Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Has $186,000 Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Valero Energy were worth $186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,647 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $898,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 11,318.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,076,349 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $145,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,923 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 34.6% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 478 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 76.0% during the third quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,333 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 306.0% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 6,070 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $825,000 after buying an additional 4,575 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on VLO shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.46.

Valero Energy Trading Down 3.2 %

Valero Energy stock opened at $134.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $131.06 and a 200-day moving average of $135.87. The company has a market cap of $42.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $116.84 and a one year high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. On average, equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 53.30%.

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.