Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLOFree Report) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,696 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,239 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $17,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VLO. Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Valero Energy by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,087 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 5,900 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,458,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 12,301 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,039,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.3% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 17,404 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,300,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.59.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Valero Energy

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total value of $1,776,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,453,629.80. This represents a 21.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO opened at $259.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $246.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.55. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $130.78 and a 12-month high of $265.61.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLOGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 27.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

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.

Further Reading

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

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