Friedenthal Financial Buys New Stake in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Key Points

• Friedenthal Financial opened a new position in Valero by buying 5,860 shares valued at about $954,000 during the fourth quarter.
• Multiple analysts have raised targets and ratings on VLO (e.g., Wells Fargo to a $292 target), and MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $230 price target.
• Valero recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($3.82 vs. $3.27) and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.20 (annualized $4.80, ~2.1% yield).

Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,860 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $954,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,273,517 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $897,869,000 after buying an additional 249,195 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $705,502,000 after buying an additional 209,597 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Valero Energy by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,929,599 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $328,534,000 after purchasing an additional 226,167 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Valero Energy by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,904,181 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $324,206,000 after purchasing an additional 43,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Valero Energy by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,706,187 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $286,076,000 after purchasing an additional 256,373 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VLO. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $230.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.69, for a total value of $1,892,331.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,242 shares in the company, valued at $9,618,080.98. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO stock opened at $223.79 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $225.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $66.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.62. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $106.83 and a one year high of $258.43.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.35% and a net margin of 1.91%.Valero Energy's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Valero Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.83%.

Valero Energy Company Profile

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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