Hennessy Advisors Inc. Trims Position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 75.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,950 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 18,600 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avestar Capital LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,850 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised 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 valued at $14,751,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,529 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $555,000. Finally, bLong Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $247,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VLO. Evercore ISI started coverage on Valero Energy in a research note on Wednesday. They set an "in-line" rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Valero Energy from $156.00 to $136.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $140.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Valero Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $154.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.88.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO traded down $2.35 on Thursday, hitting $139.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,872,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,048,960. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $123.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.58. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $99.00 and a 52-week high of $167.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $43.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.99.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $28.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.54 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 0.72%. The firm's revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.