Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Key Points

• Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Valero Energy by 4.4%, owning 115,293 shares valued at approximately $17.19 million, making it the fund's 25th largest holding.
• A number of institutional investors, including Price T Rowe Associates Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc., significantly increased their positions in Valero Energy during the first quarter, with Price T Rowe growing its stake by 276.9%.
• Valero Energy's recent quarterly earnings exceeded analyst expectations, reporting $2.28 EPS against a consensus estimate of $1.66, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 13.3%.

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115,293 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,891 shares during the period. Valero Energy accounts for about 1.2% of Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $17,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 valued at $1,425,754,000 after buying an additional 7,931,018 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Valero Energy by 12.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,135,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,155,522 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the first quarter worth about $529,864,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 34.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $647,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,196 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Valero Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $165.00.

Valero Energy Trading Up 2.4%

NYSE:VLO opened at $170.40 on Wednesday. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $172.03. 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 fifty day moving average price of $147.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.00, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Valero Energy's payout ratio is currently 188.33%.

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.

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