Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

Key Points

• GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Valero Energy Corporation by 22.4%, now holding 12,567 shares worth approximately $1.69 million.
• Valero Energy reported earnings per share of $2.28 for the last quarter, beating estimates by $0.62, although revenue fell 13.3% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.13, yielding 2.7% annually, but it has a high dividend payout ratio of 188.33%.

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 22.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,567 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VLO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 276.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,425,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,931,018 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,135,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,155,522 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $529,864,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $647,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,196 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $98,376,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO opened at $166.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $51.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.10. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $167.08. The company's 50-day moving average price is $146.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.62. The firm had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 0.62% and a return on equity of 5.76%. Valero Energy's quarterly revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio is 188.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on VLO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $165.00.

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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