Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Acquired by Good Life Advisors LLC

Good Life Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,005,346 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $142,468,000 after acquiring an additional 55,351 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after purchasing an additional 342,218 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 645,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $83,867,000 after purchasing an additional 18,575 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 83,290 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $11,803,000 after purchasing an additional 7,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NatWest Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,325,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO stock traded up $2.88 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $170.69. 3,318,006 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,478,841. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $104.18 and a twelve month high of $172.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.53.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.95 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $35.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.76 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 31.62%. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 15.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were given a $1.07 dividend. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $138.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $130.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.69.

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.