Summit Trail Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,838 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 759 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 4,908.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,850,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $384,907,000 after buying an additional 2,793,607 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Valero Energy by 11,318.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,076,349 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $145,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,923 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 900.2% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 631,095 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $85,217,000 after acquiring an additional 568,000 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,585,166 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $484,105,000 after purchasing an additional 567,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $70,352,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.46.

Valero Energy Price Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $130.95 on Thursday. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $116.84 and a 12-month high of $184.79. The firm has a market cap of $41.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50-day moving average is $130.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.75. 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 (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. Research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 53.30%.

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.