Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Holdings Raised by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 355,331 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,385 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $87,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VLO. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,532,000 after purchasing an additional 7,735 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 13.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the second quarter worth $528,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 11.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 269,043 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $36,165,000 after buying an additional 27,291 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 145,810 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,600,000 after buying an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valero Energy News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Valero Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improved after Citigroup raised its price target on Valero Energy from $259 to $302 while keeping a neutral rating, and the stock also hit a new 52-week high after the upgrade.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports say Valero shares may keep rising because earnings estimate revisions have turned more favorable, which often supports short-term upside for the stock. Can Valero Energy (VLO) Run Higher on Rising Earnings Estimates?
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum-focused coverage noted that Valero is up strongly over the past week, reinforcing the view that traders are rotating into the name. Valero Energy (VLO) Is Up 4.83% in One Week: What You Should Know
• Positive Sentiment: One article described Valero as a top-ranked value stock, which may help attract value-oriented investors looking for relatively cheap energy names. Valero Energy (VLO) is a Top-Ranked Value Stock: Should You Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Valero’s recent earnings results were already strong, with revenue and EPS beating expectations, but that data is not new; it mainly continues to support the bullish narrative.
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusual call-option activity suggests traders are positioning for more upside, but it does not confirm a fundamental change in the business.
• Negative Sentiment: Citigroup still rates the stock only “neutral,” so despite the higher target, the broader analyst view is not fully bullish.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO opened at $293.27 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $87.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $256.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.80. Valero Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $130.78 and a twelve month high of $301.43.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 32.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,294,212.14. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.06.

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.