Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,154 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,944 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $11,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Valero Energy by 12,883.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,047,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $136,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,293 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 94.4% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,429,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $202,585,000 after buying an additional 694,224 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 6.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,961,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,269,949,000 after buying an additional 517,068 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after buying an additional 342,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 938,771 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $122,040,000 after purchasing an additional 250,326 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $173.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $161.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. 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 research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.63.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock traded up $1.05 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $166.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 823,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,303,871. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $159.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.68. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.18 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market cap of $55.51 billion, a PE ratio of 6.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.54.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.45 EPS. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.25 EPS for the current year.

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.