Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Purchased by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 10.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,673 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 276.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,425,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,931,018 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,135,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,155,522 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $529,864,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 15,395.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355,699 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $179,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $647,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Up 3.5%

VLO opened at $145.1990 on Monday. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $99.00 and a 12 month high of $155.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $45.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $140.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.84.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.62. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 0.62%.The firm had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 188.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $127.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $152.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $159.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $158.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.47.

Valero Energy Company 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.