Swiss National Bank Sells 4,800 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 970,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Valero Energy worth $131,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 126.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 46,649 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,299,000 after purchasing an additional 26,044 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 69.7% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 5,266 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 2,162 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its position in Valero Energy by 5.7% in the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 2,930 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its position in Valero Energy by 7.7% in the third quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 7,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VLO shares. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Valero Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $172.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.86.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $140.16 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $44.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $135.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Valero Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $120.21 and a 12 month high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 9.1 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 38.39%.

About Valero Energy

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.