Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by Canal Insurance CO

Canal Insurance CO lowered its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 50.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Canal Insurance CO’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after purchasing an additional 7,735 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Valero Energy by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $528,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 11.3% during the 2nd 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 lifted its stake in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $261.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.53.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Valero Energy Stock Up 5.4%

VLO opened at $295.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $130.78 and a fifty-two week high of $297.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $254.22 and a 200-day moving average of $225.92.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 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 analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 31.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.