Wealthspire Advisors LLC Buys 2,499 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,073 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,499 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 6.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,961,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,269,949,000 after acquiring an additional 517,068 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 3.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,899,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $552,651,000 after acquiring an additional 121,057 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after buying an additional 342,218 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 7.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,025,956 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $287,098,000 after buying an additional 133,689 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 6.5% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,013,205 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $285,291,000 after buying an additional 122,252 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $130.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.40.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO traded up $1.80 on Thursday, hitting $158.87. 1,657,927 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,227,672. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $105.66 and a 1-year high of $184.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $164.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 24.82%. The business had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.02 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy 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.