Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC Increases Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 43.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,294 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the quarter. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,293,589 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $174,673,000 after purchasing an additional 22,571 shares in the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $1,226,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 7.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 89,762 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,121,000 after acquiring an additional 6,278 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $274,000. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Down 3.2 %

Valero Energy stock opened at $135.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.98. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $116.84 and a one year high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. Valero Energy’s revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $7.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 38.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.57.

Valero Energy Company 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.