Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Bought by River Street Advisors LLC

River Street Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,890 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the quarter. Valero Energy accounts for 1.1% of River Street Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,065,228 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,276,875,000 after acquiring an additional 395,771 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 8.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,635,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $775,264,000 after acquiring an additional 587,056 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 7.6% during the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,128,301 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $718,850,000 after acquiring an additional 434,057 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $534,892,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,899,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $552,651,000 after buying an additional 121,057 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $161.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.40.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO traded down $3.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $173.54. 2,452,374 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,425,250. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $155.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.43. The firm has a market cap of $57.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.02, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.54. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $104.18 and a twelve month high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.76 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 31.62% and a net margin of 6.10%. The business’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 17.25 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were given a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 17.31%.

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.