Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Has $663,000 Stock Position in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,934 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VLO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Valero Energy by 276.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,425,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,931,018 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 12.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,135,043,000 after acquiring an additional 4,155,522 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $529,864,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $647,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,141,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,089,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164,217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Trading Up 4.0%

NYSE VLO opened at $185.49 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $99.00 and a 12 month high of $185.62. The company has a market capitalization of $56.57 billion, a PE ratio of 38.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.74.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $28.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 94.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $177.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (up from $181.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Valero Energy from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.00.

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.