Bailard Inc. Buys 552 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $7,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its position in Valero Energy by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 4,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 55,351 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,529 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 342,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Valero Energy by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 645,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $83,867,000 after purchasing an additional 18,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.7 %

VLO stock traded down $1.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $165.88. 1,701,316 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,286,720. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market cap of $55.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.15. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $104.18 and a 1-year high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.95 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $35.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.76 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 31.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on VLO. Barclays lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America raised Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.63.

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.