Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Cuts Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. decreased its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 6.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,479 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 314 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted 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 boosted 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 position in Valero Energy during the first quarter worth about $766,000. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the first quarter worth about $866,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Valero Energy by 11.2% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 560,495 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $74,025,000 after acquiring an additional 56,274 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VLO. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $177.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $134.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.27.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $171.63 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.84. The company has a market capitalization of $53.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.05. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $178.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $32.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.80 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 94.36%.

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.