AJOVista LLC Invests $113,000 in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 873 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VLO. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 4,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $991,000 after purchasing an additional 2,529 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $362,569,000 after purchasing an additional 342,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 645,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $83,867,000 after buying an additional 18,575 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Price Performance

NYSE:VLO traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $156.84. 2,356,803 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,689,989. The company has a market cap of $52.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.55. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $104.18 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $163.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VLO shares. Bank of America raised Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $179.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $130.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.40.

Valero Energy Company 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.