Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by Denali Advisors LLC

Denali Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 41.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,004 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 3,400.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 134.0% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total value of $2,011,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $280.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $292.00 to $356.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $329.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Valero Energy Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE VLO opened at $341.30 on Friday. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $137.88 and a 52 week high of $352.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $291.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.02. The firm has a market cap of $98.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.11 by $2.43. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 26.74%. The firm had revenue of $44.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 40.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 19.92%.

Valero Energy Profile

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.