Bessemer Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its Valero Energy stake by 64% in the first quarter, ending with 19,595 shares valued at about $4.84 million.
• Valero continues to attract significant institutional interest, with hedge funds and other investors owning about 78.69% of the stock. Several large holders, including State Street, Schwab, and Norges Bank, also reported notable positions.
• Analysts remain mixed but generally positive: Valero has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $253.06, while recent earnings beat expectations and the company announced a $1.20 quarterly dividend payable August 31.

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 64.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,595 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,646 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $4,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VLO. State Street Corp increased its position in Valero Energy by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,177,191 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,959,065,000 after buying an additional 163,975 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,950,982 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,945,500,000 after buying an additional 63,919 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,111,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $922,728,000 after acquiring an additional 394,693 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,285,161 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $534,791,000 after acquiring an additional 17,336 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on VLO. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Valero Energy from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $276.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.06.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total value of $2,011,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $313.68 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $130.78 and a 12-month high of $316.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $260.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The company had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 32.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Valero Energy's payout ratio is 34.88%.

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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