Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 162,766 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 6,771 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.05% of Valero Energy worth $19,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $669,400,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,725,700 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $4,257,024,000 after purchasing an additional 4,805,133 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $132,469,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,850,859 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $472,077,000 after purchasing an additional 529,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,864,418 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $351,151,000 after purchasing an additional 525,255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $144.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $156.00 to $136.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $151.93.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock traded down $3.86 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $126.85. The stock had a trading volume of 3,123,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,041,487. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $99.00 and a twelve month high of $167.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.98. The company's 50-day moving average price is $121.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.42.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $28.76 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 159.72%.

Valero Energy Company Profile

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.