Willis Investment Counsel Has $12.15 Million Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Willis Investment Counsel increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 55.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,000 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,900 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $12,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 123,356 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $14,751,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Patten Group Inc. purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $277,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,701,232 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,311,864,000 after purchasing an additional 413,963 shares during the last quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,198 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,668,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 16,056 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,920,000 after buying an additional 3,004 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VLO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $152.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank decreased their target price 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. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $158.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, 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. Two research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $151.93.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.4%

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 business's fifty day moving average is $121.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.60. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $167.78. The firm has a market cap of $41.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.99. 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 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 firm had revenue of $28.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.54 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. Valero Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio is 159.72%.

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.