Blue Trust Inc. Has $357,000 Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 132.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,643 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 1,507 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the second quarter worth $29,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Valero Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $172.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.60.

Valero Energy Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $132.89 on Thursday. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $119.88 and a 12-month high of $184.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.60. 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 company has a market cap of $43.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.11. Valero Energy had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $34.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Company 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.