EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 210 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,296 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $949,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,176,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,585 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $754,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Simmons Bank boosted its position in Valero Energy by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 4,806 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO opened at $125.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $116.84 and a twelve month high of $184.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $133.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.94. 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 (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 53.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VLO shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.08.

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.