Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Acquired by Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec

Key Points

• The Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its ownership in Valero Energy Corporation by 2.4% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 1,782 shares, bringing its total to 76,800 shares.
• Valero Energy's shares closed at $155.37 with a market capitalization of $48.26 billion and reported earnings that exceeded analysts' expectations by $0.62, alongside a year-over-year revenue decline of 13.3%.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.13 per share, resulting in a 2.9% dividend yield, despite having a payout ratio of 188.33%.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,800 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,782 shares during the quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $10,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 276.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,425,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,931,018 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 12.0% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 4,155,522 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the first quarter worth about $529,864,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 15,395.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355,699 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $179,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position 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 worth $647,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,196 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on VLO. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research lowered Valero Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $158.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Valero Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $154.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Valero Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $179.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.40.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:VLO traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $156.65. The company had a trading volume of 2,599,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,107,999. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $159.26. The company has a market cap of $48.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $143.44 and a 200 day moving average of $132.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Valero Energy's payout ratio is presently 188.33%.

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.