Shell Asset Management Co. Sells 9,788 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Shell Asset Management Co. lowered its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 77.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,799 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 9,788 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 2.5% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,724,707 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,576,035,000 after buying an additional 286,942 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 16.7% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 1,164,217 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $827,390,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,024,322 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $675,369,000 after acquiring an additional 148,195 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 3.3% during 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 in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO stock opened at $197.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.14 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.77. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.47.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 1.91%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of Valero Energy 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 134,196 shares in the company, valued at $23,352,787.92. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho reaffirmed 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. Citigroup upped their price target on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.