Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 4,500 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 31.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VLO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2.5% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,724,707 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,576,035,000 after acquiring an additional 286,942 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,141,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,089,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164,217 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $827,390,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,024,322 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $675,369,000 after purchasing an additional 148,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,381,316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $331,415,000 after purchasing an additional 77,070 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO stock opened at $197.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.47. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $206.77.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.20 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Valero Energy’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 5th. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In related news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total transaction of $1,728,540.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 134,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,352,787.92. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLO has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Argus upgraded Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $169.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.67.

About Valero Energy

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company’s operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.