Kovack Advisors Inc. Purchases 398 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 17.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,641 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VLO. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,961,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,269,949,000 after buying an additional 517,068 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 3.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,899,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $552,651,000 after acquiring an additional 121,057 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after purchasing an additional 342,218 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Valero Energy by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,025,956 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $287,098,000 after purchasing an additional 133,689 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,013,205 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $285,291,000 after buying an additional 122,252 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $161.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho lowered Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.80.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $167.53 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $161.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.05. Valero Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $104.18 and a 52-week high of $184.79. The company has a market cap of $55.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $31.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.27 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.