Merewether Investment Management LP Sells 94,500 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Merewether Investment Management LP cut its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,843 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 94,500 shares during the quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $13,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,699 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 37,258 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,577 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Valero Energy by 136.1% during the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 75,117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,143,000 after purchasing an additional 43,299 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 8.5% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,179 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 26,099 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,524,000 after buying an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler downgraded Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $169.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Valero Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $172.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.86.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $137.50 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $184.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.39%.

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.