Signaturefd LLC Cuts Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Signaturefd LLC cut its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,810 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 238 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 12,883.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,047,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $136,157,000 after buying an additional 1,039,293 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 94.4% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,429,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $202,585,000 after buying an additional 694,224 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Valero Energy by 6.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,961,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,269,949,000 after buying an additional 517,068 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Valero Energy by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after buying an additional 342,218 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in Valero Energy by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 938,771 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $122,040,000 after buying an additional 250,326 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.63.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock opened at $167.13 on Friday. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $104.18 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The company has a market cap of $55.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.76, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $160.54 and a 200 day moving average of $140.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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.