ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC cut its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $376,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 276.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,425,754,000 after buying an additional 7,931,018 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 12.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,135,043,000 after buying an additional 4,155,522 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the first quarter valued at $529,864,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 15,395.5% during the first 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. lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 34.1% during the first 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. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on VLO. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.47.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $163.90 on Friday. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month high of $165.65. The stock has a market cap of $50.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.29, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $146.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 188.33%.

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.