Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Sold by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 52.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,877 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 7,598 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,174,000 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 VLO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $570,428,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 12,883.3% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,047,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $136,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,293 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 37.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $266,040,000 after acquiring an additional 426,093 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in Valero Energy by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,389,654 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $310,655,000 after acquiring an additional 376,449 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Valero Energy by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after acquiring an additional 342,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,105,209.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VLO. Mizuho upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus cut Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Valero Energy from $179.00 to $156.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.47.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.4 %

VLO traded down $0.59 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $148.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 105,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,053,736. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $154.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.66. 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 stock has a market cap of $48.54 billion, a PE ratio of 7.38, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $119.88 and a twelve month high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. Valero Energy’s revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.27 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 13.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.20%.

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.