Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Purchased by Wright Investors Service Inc.

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLOFree Report) by 75.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,326 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,149 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,273,517 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $897,869,000 after buying an additional 249,195 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $705,502,000 after buying an additional 209,597 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,929,599 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $328,534,000 after buying an additional 226,167 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,904,181 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $324,206,000 after buying an additional 43,237 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,706,187 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $286,076,000 after buying an additional 256,373 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $241.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.30 billion, a PE ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $224.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.23. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $106.83 and a 1 year high of $258.43.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLOGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on VLO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $184.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold 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 $230.00.

Read Our Latest Report on Valero Energy

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total transaction of $95,440.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Valero Energy Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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