Petredis Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 48,075 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,543 shares during the quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $5,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 4,908.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,850,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $384,907,000 after acquiring an additional 2,793,607 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 11,318.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,076,349 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $145,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,923 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 900.2% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 631,095 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $85,217,000 after acquiring an additional 568,000 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,585,166 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $484,105,000 after acquiring an additional 567,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $70,352,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.57.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE VLO opened at $139.80 on Friday. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $116.84 and a 52 week high of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $44.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $131.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.98.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The firm’s revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $7.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.39%.

Valero Energy Company Profile

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.