HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 6,384 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors increased its Valero Energy stake by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 6,384 more shares and bringing its total holding to 138,207 shares valued at about $22.5 million.
• Valero reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $4.22 per share versus the $3.16 consensus and revenue of $32.38 billion, topping estimates and rising 7% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share, and analysts remain generally positive with a “Moderate Buy” average rating and an average price target of $237.94.

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 138,207 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,384 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $22,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 194.4% during the 4th quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 212 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.69, for a total transaction of $1,892,331.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,242 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,618,080.98. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $247.08 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $241.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.54. The company has a market capitalization of $73.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $125.10 and a 52 week high of $263.75.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. The company had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.Valero Energy's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 26.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.9%. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VLO. Weiss Ratings raised Valero Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $182.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.94.

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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