2,241 Shares in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Bought by Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,241 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geneva Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 26,122 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,803,000 after purchasing an additional 4,172 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Valero Energy by 1,791.5% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,760 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,542,000 after purchasing an additional 9,244 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $420,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in 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 worth $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 133.7% during 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. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $341.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $98.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $291.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.02. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $137.88 and a one year high of $352.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.64.

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

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 19.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VLO shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Valero Energy from $292.00 to $356.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $350.00 price objective on Valero Energy in a report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $280.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Valero Energy from $286.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.