Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Holdings Trimmed by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 6.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,860,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 135,138 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.60% of Valero Energy worth $250,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 8,003 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.7% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 60,801 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 6.7% during the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 952,900 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $128,089,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 6,593 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel increased its stake in Valero Energy by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 104,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $14,060,000 after purchasing an additional 12,600 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO opened at $173.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.91 billion, a PE ratio of 36.21, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $168.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.71. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $99.00 and a 52 week high of $185.62.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.51. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The company had revenue of $32.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $169.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Valero Energy from $181.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.00.

About Valero Energy

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.