Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 233,754 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. trimmed its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,349,933 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 233,754 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.43% of Valero Energy worth $165,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Tobam bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 122.0% during the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 333 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $121.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $152.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Valero Energy from $144.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Raymond James lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.53.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $122.97 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $120.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.44. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $99.00 and a one year high of $167.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.98.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.27). Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. The business had revenue of $28.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 159.72%.

Valero Energy Profile

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.