Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,652 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $11,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 975 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,788 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in Valero Energy by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 16,268 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,651,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montecito Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 3,909 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.69, for a total transaction of $1,892,331.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,242 shares in the company, valued at $9,618,080.98. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on VLO shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Valero Energy from $184.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

Valero Energy Trading Up 3.3%

NYSE VLO opened at $252.78 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $243.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.74. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $125.10 and a 12 month high of $263.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 26.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

About Valero Energy

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.