Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Stake Lessened by Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. lessened its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 3.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 81,041 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,751 shares during the period. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $13,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,040 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1.6% in the third quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,803 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.3% in the third quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 18,786 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 2.0% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,381 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Becker Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,837 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,015,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $192.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $169.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.67.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $217.49 on Wednesday. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $221.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $66.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.70.

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

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 62.83%.

About Valero Energy

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.