Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,613 Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,613 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $420,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% in the second quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,842 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 133.7% in the second quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,106 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $593,000. Danske Bank A S grew its position in Valero Energy by 4.5% during the second quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 13,831 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,602,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $1,000,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VLO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $286.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised Valero Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $292.00 to $356.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $280.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total value of $2,011,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,294,212.14. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Valero Energy Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of VLO opened at $345.99 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $137.88 and a one year high of $351.00. The company has a market cap of $99.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.11 by $2.43. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 26.74% and a net margin of 5.17%.The firm had revenue of $44.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 40.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.92%.

Valero Energy Company 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.