Independent Financial Group LLC Takes $1.14 Million Position in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 4,629 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,144,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 0.6% in the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,670 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,648,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 975 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 206 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 2.5% during the first quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $261.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.06.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $313.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $260.29 and a 200-day moving average of $230.82. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $130.78 and a 52-week high of $316.57. The stock has a market cap of $93.14 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. The firm had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 32.61 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total value of $2,011,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Valero Energy Company 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.