Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 182,188 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 15.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 994,864 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 182,188 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Valero Energy worth $131,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VLO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $669,400,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,725,700 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,257,024,000 after acquiring an additional 4,805,133 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 15,395.5% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $98,376,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,850,859 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $472,077,000 after acquiring an additional 529,513 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VLO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $155.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research cut shares of Valero Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $158.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $153.94.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:VLO traded up $1.68 on Thursday, hitting $144.87. The company had a trading volume of 2,418,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,086,152. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $167.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $135.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $129.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.27). Valero Energy had a net margin of 0.72% and a return on equity of 6.30%. The firm had revenue of $28.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $28.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.82 EPS. Valero Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. Valero Energy's payout ratio is 159.72%.

Valero Energy 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.