Generali Investments Management Co LLC Sells 1,714 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Generali Investments Management Co LLC reduced its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 48.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,796 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,714 shares during the quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,177,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,959,065,000 after buying an additional 163,975 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,950,982 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,945,500,000 after buying an additional 63,919 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,111,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,668,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $922,728,000 after acquiring an additional 394,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Valero Energy by 11.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,033,310 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,243,630,000 after acquiring an additional 516,975 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on VLO. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Valero Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $329.00 price objective on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Valero Energy from $280.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO stock opened at $314.58 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $277.85 and a 200 day moving average of $244.24. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $130.78 and a 1 year high of $320.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.11 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $44.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.47 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 26.74% and a net margin of 5.17%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 39.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. This represents 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 link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.