D.A. Davidson & CO. Lowers Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,072 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 9,700 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $21,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,724,707 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,576,035,000 after acquiring an additional 286,942 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 16.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,141,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,089,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164,217 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $827,390,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 3.0% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,024,322 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $675,369,000 after purchasing an additional 148,195 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,381,316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $331,415,000 after purchasing an additional 77,070 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock opened at $165.31 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $50.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.77. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $185.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.04.

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

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total value of $1,728,540.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 134,196 shares in the company, valued at $23,352,787.92. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VLO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $201.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (up from $181.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.20.

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company’s operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.