Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Purchased by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 158,343 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,307 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $20,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 5.8% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,005,346 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $142,468,000 after buying an additional 55,351 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $362,569,000 after purchasing an additional 342,218 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 645,726 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $83,867,000 after purchasing an additional 18,575 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 10.5% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 83,290 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $11,803,000 after purchasing an additional 7,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NatWest Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth $3,325,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho lowered shares of Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $173.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.93.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO stock traded down $0.56 on Wednesday, hitting $175.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,472,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,440,832. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock's 50 day moving average is $154.46 and its 200-day moving average is $137.99. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.18 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The company has a market capitalization of $58.42 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.54.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.95 by $0.60. Valero Energy had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 31.62%. The business had revenue of $35.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.45 earnings per share. Valero Energy's revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 17.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. This is an increase from Valero Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.31%.

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.