Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Boosts Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 900.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 631,095 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 568,000 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $85,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,287,269 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,389,090,000 after purchasing an additional 50,837 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 2.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,956,743 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,090,532,000 after purchasing an additional 192,397 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 5.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $677,007,000 after purchasing an additional 237,347 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 18.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,585,166 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $484,105,000 after purchasing an additional 567,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in 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. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.86.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $139.82 on Wednesday. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $120.21 and a 12-month high of $184.79. The stock has a market cap of $44.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $136.79 and a 200 day moving average of $145.56.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.49 EPS. Valero Energy’s revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.39%.

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.