X Square Capital LLC Sells 8,096 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

X Square Capital LLC cut its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,356 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 8,096 shares during the period. X Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 160,794 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,377,000 after purchasing an additional 23,859 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 15.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 161,957 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $21,770,000 after purchasing an additional 21,997 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,534,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 104,859 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,853,000 after buying an additional 8,638 shares during the period. Finally, Tema Etfs LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,669,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VLO shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $192.00 target price (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.67.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.7%

VLO opened at $200.73 on Monday. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $206.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $61.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.27, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $182.06 and its 200-day moving average is $169.84.

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

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.83%.

Valero Energy Company 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.