CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. Purchases New Stake in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 42,951 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,313,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 160,794 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,377,000 after purchasing an additional 23,859 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Valero Energy by 15.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 161,957 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $21,770,000 after buying an additional 21,997 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the third quarter worth $4,534,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 9.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 104,859 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,853,000 after buying an additional 8,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tema Etfs LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,669,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $240.26 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.64. The company has a market capitalization of $71.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month high of $247.73.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.20 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were issued a $1.20 dividend. This is a boost 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 is currently 62.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price target (down from $198.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Argus raised shares of Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.20.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was 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 through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

About Valero Energy

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.