B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,880 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 16.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,344 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,880 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 37.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $266,040,000 after purchasing an additional 426,093 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 5.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $677,007,000 after buying an additional 237,347 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 17.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,550,010 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $238,841,000 after acquiring an additional 232,494 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $39,517,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,145,117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $179,490,000 after purchasing an additional 194,974 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO opened at $137.47 on Wednesday. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $119.88 and a 1-year high of $184.79. The company has a market cap of $44.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $143.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $34.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 10.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 21.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.07.

About Valero Energy

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.