HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 6,384 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 138,207 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,384 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $22,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VLO. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 194.4% during the 4th quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 212 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Trading Up 2.5%

Valero Energy stock opened at $247.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $241.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $125.10 and a one year high of $263.75. The stock has a market cap of $73.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.58.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The company had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 26.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $95,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $184.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $182.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.94.

Valero Energy Profile

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.