PFS Partners LLC Buys Shares of 1,000 Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

PFS Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 16,630 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 5,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 10,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,690 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Fulcrum Equity Management lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 8,806 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $173.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $130.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.93.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO stock traded down $0.33 on Thursday, reaching $175.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,002,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,405,436. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.99. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $104.18 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $58.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.54.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.95 by $0.60. Valero Energy had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 31.62%. The firm had revenue of $35.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.45 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 17.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were given a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.31%.

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.