Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Has $1.19 Million Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 155.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,822 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,934 shares during the quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 975 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 206 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,788 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 16,268 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,651,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total value of $1,776,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,453,629.80. The trade was a 21.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $243.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $72.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $130.78 and a 1-year high of $265.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $245.27 and its 200-day moving average is $215.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 27.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on VLO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $255.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $280.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $184.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.59.

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.