Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Bought by IMA Advisory Services Inc.

IMA Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,459 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $3,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 276.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,425,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,931,018 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 12.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,135,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,155,522 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Valero Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $529,864,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Valero Energy by 34.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $647,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 6.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,437,765 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,510,586,000 after purchasing an additional 736,533 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VLO. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $166.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Bank of America raised Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $152.00 to $179.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on Valero Energy in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $181.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $134.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.53.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $179.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $54.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $180.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $164.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.02.

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

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 94.36%.

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.