Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Buys New Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 1,023 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Tobam acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 196.8% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 276 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VLO shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $152.67.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE VLO opened at $134.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57. Valero Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $116.84 and a 52-week high of $184.79. The company has a fifty day moving average of $133.81 and a 200-day moving average of $133.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.30%.

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.