MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC Makes New $6.88 Million Investment in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 27,832 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,877,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $1,111,542,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $275,239,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 2,635.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 950,527 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $154,736,000 after acquiring an additional 915,782 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,696,811 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $276,224,000 after purchasing an additional 560,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,668,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $922,728,000 after purchasing an additional 394,693 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.59.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock opened at $242.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $130.78 and a one year high of $265.61. The stock has a market cap of $72.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.50.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The firm had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 27.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total transaction of $1,776,750.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,242 shares in the company, valued at $6,453,629.80. This trade represents a 21.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Valero Energy

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.