AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Decreases Position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lessened its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 57.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 419,821 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 571,263 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned about 0.13% of Valero Energy worth $55,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $155.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Valero Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $154.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup downgraded Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $134.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $156.00 to $136.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Valero Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $152.40.

Valero Energy Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Valero Energy stock traded up $1.49 on Friday, reaching $146.16. 3,417,770 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,096,570. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $167.78. The company has a market cap of $45.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $136.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.13.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $28.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.54 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 0.72%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Valero Energy's payout ratio is 159.72%.

About Valero Energy

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.