Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Acquired by Integrated Advisors Network LLC

Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 285.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,624 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,010 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Garde Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,015 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Valero Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 130,551 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $16,004,000 after purchasing an additional 2,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 6,361 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VLO. Raymond James decreased their target price 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. Scotiabank dropped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $151.93.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.3%

Valero Energy stock traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $128.80. 3,870,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,028,768. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $120.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.22. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $167.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.98.

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 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $28.54 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Valero Energy's payout ratio is 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.