Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Sold by American Trust

American Trust cut its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,887 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $308,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VLO. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in Valero Energy by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 33,427 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,394,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 100,006 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,163,000 after purchasing an additional 17,844 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Valero Energy by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 60,730 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,167,000 after purchasing an additional 6,735 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,253,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,780 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares during the last quarter. 79.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VLO. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $176.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $157.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, March 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $151.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.38.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE VLO opened at $126.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.22. Valero Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $88.16 and a 12 month high of $150.39. The company has a market capitalization of $46.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.34, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.65.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The oil and gas company reported $8.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.45 by $1.00. Valero Energy had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The business had revenue of $41.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 24.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 14th were given a $1.02 dividend. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 13th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.01%.

About Valero Energy

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Valero Energy Corp. engages in the manufacture and marketing of transportation fuels and other petrochemical products. It operates through the following business segments: Refining, Ethanol and Renewable Diesel. The Refining segment consists of refining operations, associated marketing activities, and logistics assets that support its refining operations.