Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Acquired by Drive Wealth Management LLC

Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,392 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $1,226,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $274,000. Hudson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 31,792 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,897,000 after buying an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 7.5% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 89,762 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,121,000 after acquiring an additional 6,278 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $139.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $131.28 and its 200-day moving average is $137.87. The company has a market cap of $44.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $116.84 and a 52-week high of $184.79.

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

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 38.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 note on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.54.

About Valero Energy

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.