Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Key Points

• Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation by 383.4% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 5,322 shares to reach a total of 6,710 shares valued at $887,000.
• Valero Energy reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.66 and experiencing a revenue of $29.89 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.13 per share, with the dividend yield standing at 3.0% and a payout ratio of 188.33%.

Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 383.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,710 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,322 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Valero Energy by 276.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,425,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,931,018 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 12.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,135,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,155,522 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the first quarter valued at about $529,864,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 15,395.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355,699 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $179,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,950 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $647,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,196 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Valero Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $134.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $154.47.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO traded up $1.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $152.27. 2,242,681 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,158,698. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.40. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $99.00 and a 52-week high of $155.12. The company has a market cap of $47.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.44, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.10.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.62. The business had revenue of $29.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 0.62% and a return on equity of 5.76%. The company's revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Valero Energy's payout ratio is presently 188.33%.

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.