15,500 Shares in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System initiated a new position in Valero Energy, buying 15,500 shares valued at about $3.83 million in the first quarter.
• Valero reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.22 versus the $3.16 estimate and revenue of $32.38 billion, up 7% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 1.9%, while analysts currently view the stock as a Moderate Buy.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,500 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $3,830,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $1,111,542,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $275,239,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2,635.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 950,527 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $154,736,000 after purchasing an additional 915,782 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Valero Energy by 49.3% during 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. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 7.5% during 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 buying an additional 394,693 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Valero Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $245.59.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:VLO opened at $259.05 on Friday. Valero Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $130.78 and a twelve month high of $265.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $246.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.36. The company has a market cap of $76.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total value of $1,776,750.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 27,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,453,629.80. The trade was a 21.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

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.

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