Blair William & Co. IL Cuts Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,901 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 303 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $6,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $266,040,000 after acquiring an additional 426,093 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Valero Energy by 721.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 337,911 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,927,000 after purchasing an additional 296,771 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Valero Energy by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $677,007,000 after buying an additional 237,347 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $39,517,000. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 124.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 291,856 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,751,000 after buying an additional 161,982 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on VLO. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $177.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler downgraded Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.07.

Valero Energy Stock Down 3.0 %

VLO stock opened at $134.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.97 billion, a PE ratio of 6.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.40. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $119.88 and a 52 week high of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $145.42 and a 200 day moving average of $155.13.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.11. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 4.25%. The firm had revenue of $34.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

About Valero Energy

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.