GoalVest Advisory LLC Has $1.17 Million Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 27.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,858 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,924 shares during the quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in Valero Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,312 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Valero Energy by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,351 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,049 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC grew its position in Valero Energy by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $129.20 on Friday. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $167.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $120.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.24, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.98.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.27). Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm had revenue of $28.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 159.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $152.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $156.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.93.

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.