Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service lessened its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 52.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 473,969 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 521,636 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.15% of Valero Energy worth $63,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 61.3% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 39,645 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,236,000 after buying an additional 15,063 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy by 7.8% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 53.9% in the 1st quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,614 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 54,340 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,177,000 after buying an additional 663 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 110,102 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $14,541,000 after buying an additional 24,046 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VLO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target (up previously from $181.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Valero Energy from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.53.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO opened at $175.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $53.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $166.25 and a 200-day moving average of $146.91. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $182.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.51. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The firm had revenue of $32.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Valero Energy’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 94.36%.

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.