Transcendent Capital Group LLC Buys New Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 678 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 303 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $130.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.33.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In related news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $113,846.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,105,209.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $150.07. The stock had a trading volume of 2,641,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,656,299. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $49.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.43, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a fifty day moving average of $161.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.16. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $108.28 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The business had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 21.20%.

About Valero Energy

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.