Foster & Motley Inc. Raises Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,802 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,934 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VLO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,956,743 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,090,532,000 after buying an additional 192,397 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $677,007,000 after acquiring an additional 237,347 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 1.9% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,018,107 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $473,118,000 after acquiring an additional 56,989 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 3.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,809,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $440,394,000 after purchasing an additional 82,539 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 3.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,063,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $352,292,000 after purchasing an additional 65,632 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valero Energy Stock Up 5.0 %

VLO stock opened at $138.71 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.77. The stock has a market cap of $44.44 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.39. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $119.88 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. Valero Energy’s revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $7.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 38.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on VLO shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler downgraded Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $169.00 to $123.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.29.

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.