Northwest Bancshares Inc. Has $4.45 Million Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,953 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,150 shares during the period. Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $4,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,956,743 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,090,532,000 after buying an additional 192,397 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $677,007,000 after buying an additional 237,347 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1.9% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,018,107 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $473,118,000 after purchasing an additional 56,989 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,809,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $440,394,000 after purchasing an additional 82,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,063,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $352,292,000 after purchasing an additional 65,632 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valero Energy Stock Down 1.4 %

VLO stock opened at $142.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $44.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.15. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 2.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 38.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Valero Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $172.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.86.

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.