Kennondale Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Kennondale Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,825 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $714,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $305,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 8,157 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $61,000. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its stake in Valero Energy by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 50,115 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,144,000 after purchasing an additional 6,228 shares during the period. Finally, SouthState Corp raised its stake in Valero Energy by 7,599.2% during the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 40,652 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,984,000 after purchasing an additional 40,124 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.08.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO opened at $133.03 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.68. The firm has a market cap of $41.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $116.84 and a twelve month high of $184.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. Equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.30%.

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.