AGF Management Ltd. Sells 70,644 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO)

Key Points

• AGF Management Ltd. significantly reduced its stake in Valero Energy Corporation by selling 70,644 shares, lowering its ownership by 53.6% to 61,235 shares, valued at approximately $8.1 million.
• Other institutional investors also adjusted their positions, with Vanguard Group raising its stake by 12% and GAMMA Investing LLC increasing its ownership by a dramatic 15,395.5% during the same period.
• Valero Energy reported a quarterly EPS of $2.28, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.66, and announced a dividend of $1.13 per share, yielding 3.4% annually.

AGF Management Ltd. lowered its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 53.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61,235 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 70,644 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.'s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $8,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,106 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,465,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 77,622 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $9,520,000 after acquiring an additional 6,791 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 24,623 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 5,134 shares during the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 2,617 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock traded up $2.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $136.08. 2,092,854 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,931,809. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.88. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $99.00 and a 12 month high of $155.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $42.27 billion, a PE ratio of 56.70, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.03.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.62. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 0.62%. The firm had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.71 EPS. The company's revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 188.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup downgraded Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen downgraded Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $159.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Valero Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $154.47.

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.