New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $17.34 Million Stake in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 60.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 129,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 199,725 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $17,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 276.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,425,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,931,018 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Valero Energy in the second quarter valued at about $827,390,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Valero Energy by 12.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,135,043,000 after buying an additional 4,155,522 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the first quarter worth about $529,864,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 34.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $647,823,000 after buying an additional 1,247,196 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of VLO opened at $178.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.31, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $170.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.18. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $99.00 and a 52 week high of $185.62.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.51. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.21%.The company had revenue of $32.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 94.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VLO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $183.00 price objective on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Valero Energy from $169.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $152.00 to $179.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.00.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total value of $1,728,540.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 134,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,352,787.92. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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.