AXQ Capital LP Reduces Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

AXQ Capital LP trimmed its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 70.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,486 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 10,898 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VLO. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Tobam bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Valero Energy by 196.8% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 276 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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 raised Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.08.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $131.42 on Friday. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $116.84 and a one year high of $184.79. The company has a market capitalization of $41.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.43.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. Research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 53.30%.

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.