Washington Trust Bank Trims Stake in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Washington Trust Bank cut its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 35.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,059 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 17,872 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $5,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Montecito Bank & Trust boosted its position in Valero Energy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 3,909 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 2.8% during the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,040 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,803 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 12,107 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $182.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.94.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO opened at $247.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $236.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $199.72. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $125.10 and a one year high of $258.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $73.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.58.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The company had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 28.02 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total transaction of $95,440.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company’s operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.