Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) SVP Sells $2,011,275.00 in Stock

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) SVP Eric Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Valero Energy Stock Down 2.1%

VLO stock traded down $5.70 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $260.62. 2,878,854 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,560,214. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $246.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $218.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $130.78 and a 52-week high of $272.17.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 27.45 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,177,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,959,065,000 after buying an additional 163,975 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,950,982 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,945,500,000 after acquiring an additional 63,919 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,111,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,668,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $922,728,000 after purchasing an additional 394,693 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 11.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,033,310 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,243,630,000 after purchasing an additional 516,975 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.53.

Valero Energy Company 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.