Twin Capital Management Inc. Takes $918,000 Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,036 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $918,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VLO. CWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth $364,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 67.2% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 114,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,566,000 after buying an additional 45,847 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 26,547 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,994,000 after buying an additional 5,794 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 13,100 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $984,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 9,390 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $705,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. 77.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO R. Lane Riggs sold 17,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.53, for a total transaction of $2,336,893.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 254,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,527,654.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Redburn Partners cut Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 1st. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on Valero Energy to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, June 9th. Barclays upped their target price on Valero Energy from $120.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Valero Energy from $111.00 to $142.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Valero Energy in a report on Monday, June 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $131.15.

Valero Energy Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of VLO stock opened at $104.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.01, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.95 and a 200-day moving average of $104.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $58.85 and a 1-year high of $146.80.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The oil and gas company reported $11.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.33 by $5.03. The company had revenue of $51.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.73 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 34.65% and a net margin of 4.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 86.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 26.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.57%.

Valero Energy Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol. It produces conventional, premium, and reformulated gasolines; gasoline meeting the specifications of the California Air Resources Board (CARB); diesel fuels, and low-sulfur and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuels; CARB diesel; other distillates; jet fuels; blendstocks; and asphalts, petrochemicals, lubricants, and other refined petroleum products, as well as sells lube oils and natural gas liquids.