Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,497 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 332 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $3,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,864 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its position in Valero Energy by 21.8% in the 2nd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 419 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.4% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 5,541 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 4.6% during the first quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,812 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keeley Teton Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 7,764 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $166.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target (up previously from $181.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Friday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $216.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.27.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $169.66 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $52.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.05. Valero Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $99.00 and a twelve month high of $178.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.40.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 94.36%.

Valero Energy Profile

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.