Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 7.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 885,640 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 67,394 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $119,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,956,743 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,090,532,000 after acquiring an additional 192,397 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Valero Energy by 5.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $677,007,000 after buying an additional 237,347 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.9% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,018,107 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $473,118,000 after buying an additional 56,989 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,809,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $440,394,000 after buying an additional 82,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,063,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $352,292,000 after acquiring an additional 65,632 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VLO shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Valero Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $172.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.86.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $137.02 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $135.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.39. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 2.74%. The business had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 9.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.39%.

Valero Energy Company 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.