Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors L.P.

Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,761 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $19,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 4,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 55,351 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 49.7% during 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 buying an additional 2,529 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $362,569,000 after buying an additional 342,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of 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 worth $83,867,000 after buying an additional 18,575 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $156.84 on Monday. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $104.18 and a 52 week high of $184.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $51.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $163.15 and a 200-day moving average of $141.82.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $31.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 24.82%. The firm’s revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.27 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on VLO. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $130.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Mizuho downgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $150.00 to $173.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. 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 research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.40.

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.