Portside Wealth Group LLC Invests $263,000 in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VLO. World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,323 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $530,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Silver Coast Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 5,070 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in Valero Energy by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,878 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,497 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $144.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $154.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $152.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.93.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.2%

VLO opened at $126.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.98. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $167.78.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.27). Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. The company had revenue of $28.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 159.72%.

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.