Petra Financial Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Petra Financial Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 6.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,730 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 259 shares during the period. Petra Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.4% in the second quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,970 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Valero Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,543 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,366 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.4% in the second quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 5,068 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC raised its position in Valero Energy by 4.3% in the second quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $169.00 to $123.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.29.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of VLO stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $129.09. 233,869 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,972,635. The stock has a market cap of $41.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.99. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $119.88 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.39%.

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.