Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases 3,139 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 46.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,845 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,139 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Valero Energy by 17.4% during 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. lifted its stake in shares of 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. acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the third quarter valued at about $4,534,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew 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 valued at $17,853,000 after buying an additional 8,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tema Etfs LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the third quarter worth about $1,669,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO stock opened at $241.57 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $212.90 and a 200-day moving average of $185.69. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $99.00 and a one year high of $258.43. The company has a market cap of $72.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.62.

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. Equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS 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 paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.69, for a total value of $1,892,331.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,618,080.98. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VLO shares. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Scotiabank upgraded Valero Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Argus raised Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.33.

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.