Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Lowers Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 31.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Valero Energy by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,724,707 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,576,035,000 after purchasing an additional 286,942 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 16.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,141,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,089,897,000 after buying an additional 1,164,217 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the second quarter valued at $827,390,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.0% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,024,322 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $675,369,000 after buying an additional 148,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 3.3% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 2,381,316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $331,415,000 after acquiring an additional 77,070 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 134,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,352,787.92. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of VLO opened at $197.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $180.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.47. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $99.00 and a one year high of $206.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $60.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.77.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 1.91%.The company had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 5th. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VLO shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Erste Group Bank started coverage on Valero Energy in a research report on Monday, November 10th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Argus raised shares of Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.67.

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.