Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Buys Shares of 9,246 Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 9,246 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,505,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after buying an additional 7,735 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $528,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 269,043 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $36,165,000 after buying an additional 27,291 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 145,810 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $19,600,000 after buying an additional 1,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on VLO shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Valero Energy from $182.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings raised Valero Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $255.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.94.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $95,440.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $247.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $73.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $241.89 and its 200-day moving average is $204.54. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $125.10 and a one year high of $263.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. The company had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 26.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

About Valero Energy

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.