Ancora Advisors LLC Purchases 315 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,950 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,725,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,257,024,000 after buying an additional 4,805,133 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,701,232 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,311,864,000 after purchasing an additional 413,963 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,871,229 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $844,775,000 after purchasing an additional 100,248 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $669,400,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,759,172 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $583,427,000 after buying an additional 71,587 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VLO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $152.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $156.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.80.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $117.21 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $120.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.82, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $99.00 and a 52 week high of $167.78.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.27). Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. The company had revenue of $28.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 159.72%.

Valero Energy Profile

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.