Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Has $69.65 Million Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 4.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 267,439 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,878 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $69,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 2,325.2% during the 4th quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 36,378 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,922,000 after acquiring an additional 34,878 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 846.9% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 14,752 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 13,194 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,743,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in Valero Energy by 4.2% during the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 192,430 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $47,546,000 after purchasing an additional 7,702 shares during the period. Finally, Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,268,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $350.00 price target on Valero Energy in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $289.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $279.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $329.00 price target on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Two research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $349.27 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Valero Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $352.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $292.93 and its 200-day moving average is $253.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.11 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $44.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.47 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 26.74%. Valero Energy’s revenue was up 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 40.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.92%.

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.