Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) Short Interest Update

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 13,423,416 shares, an increase of 14.5% from the February 12th total of 11,723,504 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,214,917 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.1 days. Currently, 4.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Currently, 4.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,214,917 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.1 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $95,440.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Valero Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Valero Energy by 17.4% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 160,794 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,377,000 after acquiring an additional 23,859 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 15.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 161,957 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $21,770,000 after buying an additional 21,997 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter worth about $4,534,000. Tema Etfs LLC acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the third quarter worth about $1,669,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Valero Energy by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 104,859 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,853,000 after acquiring an additional 8,638 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.3%

Valero Energy stock traded up $3.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $239.04. The company had a trading volume of 1,193,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,569,156. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $71.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $200.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.18. Valero Energy has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $242.56.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.20 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Argus upgraded shares of Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.20.

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.