Cornerstone Advisors LLC Sells 400 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 4,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Valero Energy by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,005,346 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $142,468,000 after buying an additional 55,351 shares in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 7,615 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $362,569,000 after purchasing an additional 342,218 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 645,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $83,867,000 after buying an additional 18,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total value of $113,846.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,105,209.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VLO shares. Bank of America raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Valero Energy from $198.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Argus cut Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.87.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO opened at $162.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $166.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.46. The company has a market capitalization of $53.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.04, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.55. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $105.66 and a twelve month high of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 24.82%. The firm had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.18 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 29th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 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.