Advisors Capital Management LLC Sells 378 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Advisors Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,239 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 378 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VLO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 7,931,018 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 12.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,135,043,000 after buying an additional 4,155,522 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy during the first quarter valued at about $529,864,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 15,395.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355,699 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $179,047,000 after buying an additional 1,346,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 34.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $647,823,000 after buying an additional 1,247,196 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE VLO opened at $156.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $145.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.89. The company has a market capitalization of $48.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.33, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $163.02.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 0.62%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 188.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on VLO. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $134.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $179.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.87.

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.