AGF Management Ltd. Sells 39,109 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

AGF Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 55.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,283 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 39,109 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $5,326,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VLO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Valero Energy by 2.5% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,724,707 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,576,035,000 after buying an additional 286,942 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,141,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,089,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164,217 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $827,390,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,024,322 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $675,369,000 after acquiring an additional 148,195 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.3% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 2,381,316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $331,415,000 after purchasing an additional 77,070 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VLO. Zacks Research cut shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $192.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $169.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Valero Energy from $181.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.53.

Valero Energy Trading Up 6.9%

Shares of VLO opened at $192.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.78 billion, a PE ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $175.73 and its 200 day moving average is $164.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.60. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $194.50.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th will be given a $1.20 dividend. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total transaction of $1,728,540.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 134,196 shares in the company, valued at $23,352,787.92. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Valero Energy Profile

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.