Ledyard National Bank Purchases Shares of 1,732 Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Ledyard National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,732 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter worth $28,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VLO. Mizuho lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.40.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO traded down $5.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $162.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,196,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,250,499. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $53.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.54. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $104.18 and a 12-month high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 24.82%. The firm had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.27 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.37 EPS for the current year.

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.