Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 78.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,363 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,012 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $669,400,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,725,700 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,257,024,000 after acquiring an additional 4,805,133 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Valero Energy by 15,395.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355,699 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $179,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,950 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $132,469,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $98,376,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VLO. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $121.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $152.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Valero Energy in a research report on Wednesday. They set an "in-line" rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $140.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.88.

Valero Energy Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE VLO opened at $139.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $43.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.99. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $99.00 and a 12 month high of $167.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $124.50 and a 200-day moving average of $127.58.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $28.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.54 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 0.72%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were issued a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. Valero Energy's payout ratio is currently 159.72%.

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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