Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 499 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VLO. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,693 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Valero Energy by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 176,431 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $23,823,000 after buying an additional 14,616 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC grew its stake in Valero Energy by 69.7% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 5,266 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $711,000 after buying an additional 2,162 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Valero Energy by 126.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 46,649 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,299,000 after buying an additional 26,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $134,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VLO. Tudor Pickering upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho decreased their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.08.

Valero Energy Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $133.03 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $41.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.68. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.84 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.30%.

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.