Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 4,288 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Yousif Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,211 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,288 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $7,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VLO. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,532,000 after purchasing an additional 7,735 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 13.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the second quarter valued at about $464,000. CW Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 16.3% during the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 3,178 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.8% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 16,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Key Valero Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Valero Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group materially raised its earnings forecasts for Valero (FY2026 and FY2027), boosting EPS expectations well above current consensus — a bullish signal for forward profitability and valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target to $261 and kept an overweight rating, signaling institutional confidence in upside to current levels. Barclays price target raise (Benzinga)
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler boosted its target to $263 and maintained an overweight stance, adding another dealer pushing higher targets. Piper Sandler target raise (TickerReport)
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reiterated its buy rating, supporting demand from growth/earnings-focused investors. Goldman Sachs sticks to Buy (Globe & Mail)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst consensus and market pieces note Valero’s strong YTD performance and ask whether current levels already price-in the rally; useful context for risk/reward but not an immediate catalyst. Is It Too Late To Consider Valero? (Yahoo)
• Neutral Sentiment: Aggregated analyst coverage remains favorable (average rating ~“Moderate Buy”), which supports longer-term interest even amid short-term volatility. Analyst average rating (American Banking News)
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reports a March 23 explosion at Valero’s 380k bpd Port Arthur refinery destroyed a diesel hydrotreater and the control room for multiple hydrotreaters — a material operational hit that can reduce diesel production and refining margins until repairs/assessments are complete. Port Arthur blast destroyed diesel hydrotreater control room (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Following the blast, a lawsuit alleges gross negligence related to the Port Arthur incident — introduces legal, regulatory and potential financial exposure that increases uncertainty. Lawsuit over refinery explosion (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: Market coverage and intraday pieces note the stock declined amid broader market moves and the operational/legal headlines, reflecting investor risk-off toward near-term production disruption and litigation. Stock falls amid market uptick (Zacks)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VLO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $215.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $184.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $95,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE VLO opened at $239.79 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $218.89 and its 200-day moving average is $188.58. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $101.66 and a 12-month high of $258.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $71.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.62.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 62.83%.

About Valero Energy

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company’s operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.