Capital Investment Advisors LLC Sells 2,132 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Capital Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,880 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,132 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $6,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.4% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 5,541 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 4.6% in the first quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,812 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 7,764 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 4.0% in the second quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,092 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 2.2% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,798 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $134.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen cut Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $179.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Valero Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.00.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO opened at $172.23 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.06. The stock has a market cap of $53.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.76, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $99.00 and a 52 week high of $178.43.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.62. The business had revenue of $29.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 0.62%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 188.33%.

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.