Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 73,646 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,655 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $9,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 13,342.2% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 74,604 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,028,000 after acquiring an additional 74,049 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,622,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 20.1% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 34,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,633,000 after purchasing an additional 5,767 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 10.4% during the second quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,234 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $838,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiducient Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Valero Energy in the second quarter worth $289,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $174.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $53.09 billion, a PE ratio of 36.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $169.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.68. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $99.00 and a one year high of $185.62.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.51. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The company had revenue of $32.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on VLO. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Erste Group Bank started coverage on Valero Energy in a report on Monday, November 10th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $166.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $177.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.00.

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.