Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Purchased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 32.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 156,631 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 38,296 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $40,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 3,400.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 134.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXS Investments LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on VLO. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $338.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $279.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial raised their target price 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Valero Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $296.18.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO stock opened at $370.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $317.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.57. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $153.20 and a 12 month high of $375.11.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its 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. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 26.74% and a net margin of 5.17%.The company had revenue of $44.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 48.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 41.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 19.92%.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.