Plato Investment Management Ltd Acquires 374 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,367 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $449,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in Valero Energy by 18.5% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 22,402 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,959,000 after acquiring an additional 3,503 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in Valero Energy by 8.9% during the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 46,474 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,790 shares during the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $766,000. Sendero Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Valero Energy by 11.0% during the first quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,198 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $866,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Valero Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $179.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.87.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of VLO opened at $157.55 on Friday. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $99.00 and a one year high of $163.02. The company has a market cap of $48.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $132.71.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.62. Valero Energy had a net margin of 0.62% and a return on equity of 5.76%. The business had revenue of $29.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 188.33%.

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.