Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Position Boosted by CWA Asset Management Group LLC

CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 359.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,243 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,140 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 17.4% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Valero Energy by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 161,957 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $21,770,000 after purchasing an additional 21,997 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,534,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 9.0% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Tema Etfs LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the third quarter valued at about $1,669,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:VLO opened at $240.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $71.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $203.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.83. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $247.73.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.69, for a total transaction of $1,892,331.59. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,618,080.98. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down from $198.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One equities 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.com, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.20.

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.