Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Acquired by Vident Advisory LLC

Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 56.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,820 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,257 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VLO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $156.00 to $136.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $144.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $152.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $151.93.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $127.79 on Thursday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $121.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.62. The company has a market capitalization of $40.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.98. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $167.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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