Allstate Corp Sells 2,515 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Key Points

• Allstate Corp decreased its stake in Valero Energy Corporation by 26.3%, selling 2,515 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with a total of 7,048 shares valued at approximately $931,000.
• In the same quarter, other institutional investors significantly increased their holdings in Valero, with Price T Rowe Associates Inc. boosting its stake by 276.9% and Vanguard Group Inc. increasing theirs by 12%.
• Valero Energy recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.13 per share with an annualized yield of 3.1%, despite reporting a decline in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.

Allstate Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 26.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,048 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 2,515 shares during the quarter. Allstate Corp's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VLO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 276.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,425,754,000 after buying an additional 7,931,018 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,135,043,000 after buying an additional 4,155,522 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $529,864,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 15,395.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355,699 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $179,047,000 after buying an additional 1,346,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $647,823,000 after buying an additional 1,247,196 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $152.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $155.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $158.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $134.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $154.47.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $145.1990 on Monday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $140.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $45.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.03. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $155.12.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 188.33%.

Valero Energy Company 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.

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