1,850 Shares in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Bought by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 24th, 2023

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,850 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. FMR LLC lifted its position in Valero Energy by 53.4% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,471,401 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,644,300,000 after buying an additional 5,384,997 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 10,294.8% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,321,288 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $141,180,000 after buying an additional 1,308,577 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Valero Energy by 2.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,341,245 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,118,388,000 after buying an additional 700,532 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Valero Energy by 60.6% during the second quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,571,478 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $167,017,000 after buying an additional 592,695 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,635,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $775,264,000 after purchasing an additional 587,056 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.28% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $130.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $135.22 and a 200 day moving average of $126.66. The company has a market cap of $48.39 billion, a PE ratio of 4.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $93.65 and a 12-month high of $150.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The oil and gas company reported $8.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.45 by $1.00. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 6.54%. The company had revenue of $41.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 24.37 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 14th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 13th. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 14.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Valero Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $176.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $140.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Valero Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.38.

Valero Energy Profile

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Valero Energy Corp. engages in the manufacture and marketing of transportation fuels and other petrochemical products. It operates through the following business segments: Refining, Ethanol and Renewable Diesel. The Refining segment consists of refining operations, associated marketing activities, and logistics assets that support its refining operations.