Stephens Inc. AR Sells 11,899 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Stephens Inc. AR lowered its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 25.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,622 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 11,899 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $8,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the third quarter worth $27,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. AXS Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 157.0% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 203 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VLO shares. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.59.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock traded down $1.54 on Tuesday, hitting $268.78. The stock had a trading volume of 440,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,501,127. The stock has a market cap of $79.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Valero Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $130.78 and a twelve month high of $274.92. The business’s 50 day moving average is $249.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.00.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The business had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 28.37 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

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

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.