Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Acquires 7,204 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 189,785 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 7,204 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.06% of Valero Energy worth $25,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth $669,400,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 16.1% during 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in 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 worth $179,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,950 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $132,469,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $98,376,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:VLO traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $134.04. The company had a trading volume of 3,758,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,034,577. 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 one year low of $99.00 and a one year high of $167.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $121.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.60. The company has a market capitalization of $41.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.99.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.27). Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. The company had revenue of $28.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 159.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VLO shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho increased their target price on Valero Energy from $158.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $140.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $151.93.

Valero Energy 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.