Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 169.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 195,877 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 123,226 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $48,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 3,400.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 134.0% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.3%

VLO opened at $313.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $93.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $130.78 and a 52 week high of $316.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $260.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. The company had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 32.61 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on VLO shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $203.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.06.

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.