Insider Selling: Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) SVP Sells $2,011,275.00 in Stock

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) SVP Eric 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO opened at $267.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $79.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $130.78 and a 52-week high of $274.92. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $249.06 and its 200-day moving average is $220.30.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 28.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valero Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth $1,111,542,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the third quarter valued at $275,239,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Valero Energy by 2,635.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 950,527 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $154,736,000 after acquiring an additional 915,782 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,584,976 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $638,695,000 after acquiring an additional 806,018 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 560,116 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on VLO. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $203.00 price target on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $280.00 price target on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.59.

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.