Sagefield Capital LP Raises Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Sagefield Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 5.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 107,404 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,938 shares during the quarter. Valero Energy makes up 1.8% of Sagefield Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Sagefield Capital LP’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $16,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 18,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after buying an additional 1,539 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Valero Energy by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,007 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,901,000 after buying an additional 6,110 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 945,852 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $122,997,000 after buying an additional 123,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its position in Valero Energy by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 2,776 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $177.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho reduced their target price on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com lowered Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.07.

Valero Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of VLO opened at $135.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.70, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $145.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $119.88 and a 52 week high of $184.79.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Valero Energy Profile

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.