Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Grows Position in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,758 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,257 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $18,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,177,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,959,065,000 after purchasing an additional 163,975 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,950,982 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,945,500,000 after buying an additional 63,919 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,111,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Valero Energy by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,668,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $922,728,000 after buying an additional 394,693 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $705,502,000 after acquiring an additional 209,597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $260.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $247.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $218.91. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $130.78 and a 12 month high of $272.17.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. The firm had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 27.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen raised their price target on Valero Energy from $276.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Valero Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.53.

Valero Energy Company 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.