Gradient Investments LLC Buys 111 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,103 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 6,041 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Valero Energy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,720 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in Valero Energy by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in Valero Energy by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,284 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 6,989 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $887,000 after buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on VLO. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Valero Energy from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Raymond James increased their target price on Valero Energy from $169.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Valero Energy from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.38.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO stock opened at $126.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $46.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.65. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $88.16 and a 1 year high of $150.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $135.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.28.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The oil and gas company reported $8.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.45 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $41.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.31 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 6.54%. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 24.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 13th. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 14.01%.

Valero Energy Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Valero Energy Corp. engages in the manufacture and marketing of transportation fuels and other petrochemical products. It operates through the following business segments: Refining, Ethanol and Renewable Diesel. The Refining segment consists of refining operations, associated marketing activities, and logistics assets that support its refining operations.