Ninety One UK Ltd Purchases 182,272 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 106.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 352,789 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 182,272 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd owned about 0.10% of Valero Energy worth $45,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 31,652 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 467 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 56,398.4% in the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 70,623 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,181,000 after acquiring an additional 70,498 shares during the last quarter. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 931.3% in the fourth quarter. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,369 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,095,000 after acquiring an additional 20,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $678,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on VLO shares. Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $156.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $130.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Mizuho lowered Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.63.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $162.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $104.18 and a twelve month high of $184.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $158.12 and its 200-day moving average is $139.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.57, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.54.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.95 by $0.60. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 31.62% and a net margin of 6.10%. The company had revenue of $35.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.45 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 17.31 EPS for the current fiscal 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.