Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys 7,302 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management increased its Valero Energy stake by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 7,302 more shares and bringing its total holding to 293,657 shares worth about $47.8 million.
• Valero received mostly bullish analyst attention, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average target price of $243.65.
• The company reported strong quarterly results and a dividend, beating earnings and revenue estimates for Q1 and announcing a $1.20 per-share quarterly dividend, equal to a 2.0% annualized yield.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 293,657 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,302 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned about 0.10% of Valero Energy worth $47,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 491,134 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $83,620,000 after acquiring an additional 17,165 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 42,376 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $6,898,000 after acquiring an additional 10,634 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $705,502,000 after acquiring an additional 209,597 shares in the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 13.7% in the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 115,183 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $19,612,000 after acquiring an additional 13,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $954,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VLO. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Valero Energy from $182.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Argus raised Valero Energy to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Valero Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $243.65.

Insider Activity

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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $245.08 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $242.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.03. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $125.10 and a 1-year high of $263.75. The firm has a market cap of $72.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.58. 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 (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. The firm 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%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 26.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

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

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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