ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 2,335 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,743 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 2,335 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $7,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,323 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,947 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 5,070 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 4,687 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,514 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $156.00 to $136.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $152.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $154.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $144.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $140.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $151.93.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO traded down $2.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $132.20. 1,908,613 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,024,485. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $121.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.63. Valero Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $99.00 and a 12 month high of $167.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.98.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.27). The firm 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 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.82 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Valero Energy's dividend 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.