Evolve Private Wealth LLC Raises Stock Position in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Key Points

• Evolve Private Wealth LLC boosted its Valero Energy stake by 419.3% in Q1, ending with 23,606 shares valued at about $5.8 million.
• Analysts are mostly constructive on Valero, with several firms raising price targets; the stock now carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $245.59.
• Valero reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $4.22 per share on revenue of $32.38 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share payable June 23.

Evolve Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 419.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,606 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,060 shares during the quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $5,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth $1,111,542,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $275,239,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 2,635.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 950,527 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $154,736,000 after buying an additional 915,782 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 560,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $922,728,000 after buying an additional 394,693 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $255.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $280.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $245.59.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total transaction of $1,776,750.00. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy Stock Up 0.1%

Valero Energy stock opened at $236.50 on Monday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $245.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a market cap of $70.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.19, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.55. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $130.78 and a fifty-two week high of $265.61.

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

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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