Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Stock Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,395 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 32,176 shares during the period. Valero Energy accounts for 1.3% of Conning Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $41,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 11.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,033,310 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,243,630,000 after buying an additional 516,975 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Valero Energy by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,969,320 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $733,660,000 after buying an additional 254,604 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,842,339 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $702,285,000 after acquiring an additional 442,177 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,584,976 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $638,695,000 after acquiring an additional 806,018 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 33.9% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,058,341 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $536,074,000 after acquiring an additional 520,642 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company's stock.

More Valero Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Valero Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Valero maintained its quarterly dividend at $1.20 per share, payable December 21 to shareholders of record November 24. The annualized payout is $4.80 per share, supporting the stock’s income appeal. Valero dividend announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Valero’s latest earnings were exceptionally strong, with quarterly EPS of approximately $23.90 beating consensus and revenue exceeding estimates. The results represented a substantial improvement from the prior-year period, indicating powerful refining economics. Refiner stocks selloff article
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks recently included VLO among its Rank #1 growth stocks, citing strong momentum, earnings surprises and growth projections. Zacks growth stocks article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on VLO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $485.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Zacks Research raised Valero Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $329.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $395.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Freedom Broker downgraded Valero Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $379.94.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $388.39 on Thursday. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $159.90 and a 1 year high of $461.52. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $395.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $282.96. The company has a market cap of $111.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The oil and gas company reported $23.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $21.17 by $2.73. Valero Energy had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 47.50%. The firm had revenue of $46.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $42.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.66 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 43.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 56.78 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 24th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Valero Energy's payout ratio is presently 10.80%.

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is an international energy company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. The company's primary business is refining and marketing transportation fuels, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other products used by commercial, industrial and consumer customers.

Valero operates refineries in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Its refining operations also produce asphalt, petrochemical feedstocks and other petroleum-based products. The company markets fuel through wholesale channels and branded retail networks, including Valero, Beacon and Shamrock-branded locations.

In addition to conventional refining, Valero has businesses focused on renewable fuels.

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