Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Position in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in Valero Energy by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 118,018 shares and still holding 1.79 million shares valued at about $290.8 million.
• Valero Energy recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.22 versus the $3.16 estimate and revenue of $32.38 billion, up 7% from a year earlier.
• Analysts remain generally positive on VLO, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $237.94; the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share.

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,786,163 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 118,018 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.59% of Valero Energy worth $290,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 145.3% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 211 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on VLO. Citigroup upped their price target on Valero Energy from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Argus upgraded Valero Energy to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Valero Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.94.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO opened at $241.58 on Wednesday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $242.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $205.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $125.10 and a 12 month high of $263.75. The company has a market cap of $71.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.58.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The business had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 26.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total transaction of $95,440.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy 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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