Empowered Funds LLC Has $28.80 Million Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 37.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 116,559 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 70,116 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $28,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,177,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,959,065,000 after buying an additional 163,975 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,950,982 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,945,500,000 after acquiring an additional 63,919 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,111,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,668,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $922,728,000 after acquiring an additional 394,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,285,161 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $534,791,000 after acquiring an additional 17,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total value of $2,011,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VLO. Barclays upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $261.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and set a $203.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.71.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO opened at $304.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $130.78 and a 12-month high of $320.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $266.16 and a 200-day moving average of $235.67. The stock has a market cap of $90.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 36.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

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.