InterOcean Capital Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

InterOcean Capital Group LLC reduced its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,220 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 89 shares during the quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VLO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $570,428,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 12,883.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,047,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $136,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,293 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,429,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $202,585,000 after acquiring an additional 694,224 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,961,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,269,949,000 after acquiring an additional 517,068 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,389,654 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $310,655,000 after acquiring an additional 376,449 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE VLO traded up $1.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $163.56. The stock had a trading volume of 227,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,130,864. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.55. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $105.66 and a one year high of $184.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.71.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 24.82%. The firm had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 29th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total value of $113,846.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,105,209.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Valero Energy from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.87.

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.