Aberdeen Group plc Sells 272,135 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Key Points

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Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 65.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 143,714 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 272,135 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $19,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 12.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,135,043,000 after buying an additional 4,155,522 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $529,864,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $179,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,950 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised 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 valued at $647,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,196 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $98,376,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on VLO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lowered shares of Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the company from $118.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $159.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $154.47.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO traded up $2.5010 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $140.4310. 2,082,889 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,664,789. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $99.00 and a 52 week high of $155.12. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $140.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.82. The firm has a market cap of $43.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.03.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.62. The business had revenue of $29.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 0.62%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio is 188.33%.

About Valero Energy

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.