Montecito Bank & Trust Makes New $656,000 Investment in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Montecito Bank & Trust bought a new position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 3,855 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $656,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VLO. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 15.7% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 161,957 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $21,770,000 after buying an additional 21,997 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 8.9% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 46,474 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,790 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 10,571 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 2,199 shares during the period. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,666,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $866,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on VLO. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $201.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Valero Energy from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Valero Energy from $181.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (up previously from $181.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $198.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.20.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $161.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.60. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $185.62. The stock has a market cap of $49.36 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $171.21 and a 200-day moving average of $155.28.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $32.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.80 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.21%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th were given a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total transaction of $1,728,540.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 134,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,352,787.92. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

About Valero Energy

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.