Geneva Partners LLC Takes $5.42 Million Position in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Geneva Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 21,950 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,423,000. Valero Energy makes up approximately 2.6% of Geneva Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 0.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 163,975 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.5% during 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 buying an additional 63,919 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $1,111,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 7.5% in 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 buying an additional 394,693 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 0.5% in 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 buying an additional 17,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $203.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Mizuho upped their price target on Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $247.59.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO stock opened at $266.04 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $251.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.15 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 $274.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. The firm had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 28.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.