Wintrust Investments LLC Sells 127 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Wintrust Investments LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 127 shares during the quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $52,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,784 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,169,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 5,070 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 4,687 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Tudor Pickering raised Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.08.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $125.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $133.02 and its 200-day moving average is $133.94. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $116.84 and a 1-year high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.30%.

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.