Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Purchased by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,046 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 6.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,961,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,269,949,000 after acquiring an additional 517,068 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,899,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $552,651,000 after buying an additional 121,057 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $362,569,000 after buying an additional 342,218 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,025,956 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $287,098,000 after buying an additional 133,689 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,013,205 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $285,291,000 after buying an additional 122,252 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE VLO opened at $165.80 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $161.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.61. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $104.18 and a one year high of $184.79. 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 company has a market cap of $55.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.54.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.95% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VLO shares. Mizuho downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $173.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.