Wellington Management Group LLP Has $337.51 Million Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,753,179 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 97,347 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.87% of Valero Energy worth $337,512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,725,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,257,024,000 after purchasing an additional 4,805,133 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,701,232 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,311,864,000 after purchasing an additional 413,963 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $669,400,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 5.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,687,585 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $639,268,000 after buying an additional 247,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,072,188 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $499,210,000 after buying an additional 487,022 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on VLO. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $152.67.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $133.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $133.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.30. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.84 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. Valero Energy’s dividend 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.