Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Grows Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,950 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 5.8% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,005,346 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $142,468,000 after acquiring an additional 55,351 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $362,569,000 after purchasing an additional 342,218 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 645,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $83,867,000 after purchasing an additional 18,575 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 10.5% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 83,290 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,803,000 after buying an additional 7,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NatWest Group plc acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $3,325,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Up 1.8 %

VLO traded up $3.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $170.88. 1,837,968 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,451,912. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.18 and a fifty-two week high of $172.46. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.53. The stock has a market cap of $56.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.53.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.95 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $35.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.76 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 31.62% and a net margin of 6.10%. The firm’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 15.66 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 17.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on VLO. Bank of America raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Mizuho cut Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $173.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James raised their target price on Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.69.

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.