First Merchants Corp Has $1.76 Million Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

First Merchants Corp trimmed its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 15.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,121 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,476 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,135,043,000 after acquiring an additional 4,155,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,437,765 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,510,586,000 after buying an additional 736,533 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 276.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,425,754,000 after buying an additional 7,931,018 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $647,823,000 after buying an additional 1,247,196 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $529,864,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valero Energy Price Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $162.41 on Thursday. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $178.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.45 billion, a PE ratio of 67.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.05.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.62. Valero Energy had a net margin of 0.62% and a return on equity of 5.76%. The business had revenue of $29.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 188.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on VLO shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Valero Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $134.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.07.

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.