Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Purchased by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,505 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $456,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Valero Energy by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,005,346 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $142,468,000 after acquiring an additional 55,351 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc grew its stake in Valero Energy by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 7,615 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after acquiring an additional 342,218 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 645,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $83,867,000 after purchasing an additional 18,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 83,290 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $11,803,000 after purchasing an additional 7,910 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VLO. Raymond James raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $130.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.63.

Valero Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $167.51 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $159.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $55.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.77, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.54. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $104.18 and a 12-month high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.95 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $35.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.76 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 31.62% and a net margin of 6.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.31 EPS for the current year.

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.