Independent Financial Group LLC Makes New $1.14 Million Investment in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,629 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,144,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,111,542,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Valero Energy during the third quarter worth about $275,239,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2,635.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 950,527 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $154,736,000 after buying an additional 915,782 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,696,811 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $276,224,000 after buying an additional 560,116 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,668,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $922,728,000 after acquiring an additional 394,693 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total value of $2,011,275.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $259.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.06.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE VLO opened at $313.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $260.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $130.78 and a 52 week high of $316.57.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 32.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

About Valero Energy

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.