Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Acquires 2,429 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,800 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,429 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.'s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $5,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $669,400,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 4,805,133 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $179,047,000 after buying an additional 1,346,950 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $132,469,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,376,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of 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 increased 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Valero Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $127.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Valero Energy from $121.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.88.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.0%

VLO traded up $1.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $143.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,224,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,057,784. The stock has a market cap of $44.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.72, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.16. 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.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 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 quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.