Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Stake Raised by Whittier Trust Co.

Key Points

• Whittier Trust Co. raised its Valero stake by 2.8% to 212,104 shares (about $37.8 million), and institutional investors now own roughly 78.69% of the company.
• Analysts have been upbeat recently, with Raymond James raising its target to $290 (strong-buy) and Wells Fargo to $292 (overweight)
• Valero beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $3.82 vs. $3.27 and $30.37 billion in revenue, and it raised its quarterly dividend to $1.20 (a $4.80 annualized payout, ~2.0% yield).

Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,104 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 5,694 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. owned 0.07% of Valero Energy worth $37,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 70.2% during the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 194.4% during the fourth quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 212 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VLO shares. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Argus raised Valero Energy to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $212.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut Valero Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $230.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.69, for a total value of $1,892,331.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,242 shares in the company, valued at $9,618,080.98. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy Trading Up 2.9%

Valero Energy stock opened at $241.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.62. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $106.83 and a 1 year high of $258.43. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $224.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.23.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The firm had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Valero Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.83%.

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company's operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.

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