Cherokee Insurance Co Sells 7,000 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Cherokee Insurance Co lowered its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLOFree Report) by 38.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,350 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 7,000 shares during the period. Valero Energy comprises about 1.1% of Cherokee Insurance Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Cherokee Insurance Co’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 71.9% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,894 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,181,000 after acquiring an additional 8,323 shares in the last quarter. Dockside LLC increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 189.1% during the second quarter. Dockside LLC now owns 21,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 46,108 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 4.7% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 432,725 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $112,699,000 after purchasing an additional 19,288 shares in the last quarter. One Degree Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $282,000. Finally, Ballast Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 7.4% during the second quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 6,217 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,619,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was 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 $5,294,212.14. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on VLO. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Valero Energy from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $279.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised Valero Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Get Our Latest Research Report on VLO

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $341.36 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $283.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.97. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $135.01 and a 52-week high of $346.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $98.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLOGet Free Report) 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 company had revenue of $44.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 40.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Valero Energy Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO)

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