Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Bought by LRT Capital Management LLC

LRT Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 360.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,503 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,055 shares during the quarter. Valero Energy accounts for 2.3% of LRT Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. LRT Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $3,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Valero Energy by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 160,794 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,377,000 after buying an additional 23,859 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 15.7% during the 2nd 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. bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,534,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 104,859 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,853,000 after acquiring an additional 8,638 shares during the period. Finally, Tema Etfs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,669,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.69, for a total transaction of $1,892,331.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,242 shares in the company, valued at $9,618,080.98. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $232.73 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $99.00 and a 12 month high of $240.27. The company has a market cap of $69.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.59.

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

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 62.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VLO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.20.

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.