Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Makes New Investment in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Key Points

• Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC purchased a new position of 8,253 shares of Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) in Q4, valued at approximately $1.344 million, as part of institutional ownership of about 78.7%.
• SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares on March 11 at an average price of $227.69, totaling roughly $1.892 million and reducing his stake by 16.44% (insiders own ~0.36% of the stock).
• Valero raised its quarterly dividend to $1.20 (annualized $4.80, ~2.1% yield), and multiple analysts boosted price targets (e.g., Barclays to $261 and UBS to $280), leaving a MarketBeat average target of $230 and an overall "Moderate Buy" consensus.

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,253 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $1,344,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Montecito Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 3,909 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,040 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,803 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $647,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Cypress Capital Group boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 18,786 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 42,242 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,618,080.98. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Valero Energy Trading Down 7.4%

NYSE:VLO opened at $223.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.62. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $106.83 and a 52 week high of $258.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $225.31 and a 200 day moving average of $191.74.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a positive change from Valero Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $184.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Scotiabank upgraded Valero Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $230.00.

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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