Achmea Investment Management B.V. Sells 4,464 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Achmea Investment Management B.V. reduced its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 170,936 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,464 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. owned about 0.06% of Valero Energy worth $29,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 2.8% in the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,040 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 worth $647,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group boosted its stake 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 worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,381 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Becker Capital Management Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO opened at $236.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $70.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $200.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.18. Valero Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $99.00 and a twelve month high of $240.27.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.35% and a net margin of 1.91%.The company had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a $1.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus raised Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total transaction of $95,440.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Company Profile

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.