Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 23.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,365 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 8,143 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $3,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 276.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,425,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,931,018 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $827,390,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,141,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,089,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164,217 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 81.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,413,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $186,498,000 after buying an additional 633,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $86,647,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In related news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total transaction of $1,728,540.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 134,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,352,787.92. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $169.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 target price (down from $198.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.20.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock opened at $161.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $49.36 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $171.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.28. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month high of $185.62.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $28.80 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.21%.The company’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th were given a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.36%.

Valero Energy Company 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.