Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Raises Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 1.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 54,175 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 980 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $7,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,970 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.6% in the second quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,543 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $712,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,366 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 5,068 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC raised its position in Valero Energy by 4.3% in the second quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VLO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank lowered 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 research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.86.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO stock opened at $140.91 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $44.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $136.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 2.74%. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.49 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend 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.