Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC decreased its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 87.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,441 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 9,960 shares during the period. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 15.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 161,957 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $21,770,000 after buying an additional 21,997 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 8.9% during the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 46,474 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,790 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in Valero Energy by 26.3% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 10,571 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 2,199 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $866,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,436,759 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $193,129,000 after acquiring an additional 244,675 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Valero Energy from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price (up from $181.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.20.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total transaction of $1,728,540.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 134,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,352,787.92. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $167.85 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.95. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $99.00 and a 52 week high of $185.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $51.20 billion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.