Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) Shares Bought by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 151.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,771 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 54,075 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $11,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 15,395.5% in 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. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $98,376,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,850,859 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $472,077,000 after purchasing an additional 529,513 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,864,418 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $351,151,000 after buying an additional 525,255 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,938,335 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $973,119,000 after buying an additional 429,252 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VLO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Valero Energy from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen downgraded Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $159.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Valero Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $154.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $154.47.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO stock traded down $5.40 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $139.33. 4,628,611 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,168,285. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month high of $167.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $138.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.10.

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

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.