Wealthspire Advisors LLC Sells 2,525 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,404 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,525 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 27.0% in the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 37,131 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,820,000 after purchasing an additional 7,895 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,786 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 55.6% in the second quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 4,151 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,483 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the second quarter valued at $447,000. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 17.4% in the second quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VLO shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.50.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $134.26 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $146.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.37. Valero Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $119.88 and a 52-week high of $184.79. The company has a market cap of $43.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $34.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 4.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 12.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.20%.

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.