Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Purchases 442,177 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 18.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,842,339 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 442,177 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.96% of Valero Energy worth $702,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VLO. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,670 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,648,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 975 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 206 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $533,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Valero Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs raised its price target on Valero Energy (VLO) from $286 to $357 and kept a Buy rating, signaling meaningful upside versus the current share price.
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler reaffirmed an Overweight rating and lifted its target to $329, also pointing to additional upside for the stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles highlighted Valero as a strong momentum stock and a favorable pick versus Cenovus, which may be helping investor sentiment ahead of next week’s earnings report. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts expect earnings growth in Valero’s upcoming report, but one preview noted the setup does not look ideal for a likely earnings beat, suggesting expectations are already fairly balanced. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader energy-market headlines, including refinery and crude-flow shifts, may affect VLO’s operating backdrop, but they do not directly change Valero’s outlook on their own.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO stock opened at $304.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $130.78 and a 52 week high of $320.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $264.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.91. The company has a market capitalization of $90.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. The business had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 32.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $286.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Zacks Research downgraded Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.36% 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.