Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Grows Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 78.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,680 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,005,346 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $142,468,000 after acquiring an additional 55,351 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 7,615 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after acquiring an additional 342,218 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 645,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $83,867,000 after buying an additional 18,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 10.5% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 83,290 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,803,000 after buying an additional 7,910 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valero Energy Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of VLO traded down $3.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $167.02. The stock had a trading volume of 475,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,357,291. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Valero Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $104.18 and a 52-week high of $184.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $156.56 and its 200 day moving average is $138.56. The firm has a market cap of $55.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.54.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.95 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $35.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.76 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 31.62%. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 17.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VLO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $161.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.40.

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.