Savvy Advisors Inc. Makes New $338,000 Investment in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Savvy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,756 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VLO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $669,400,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,725,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,257,024,000 after acquiring an additional 4,805,133 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth $132,469,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Valero Energy by 159.3% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 850,161 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $104,221,000 after acquiring an additional 522,233 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,072,188 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $499,210,000 after purchasing an additional 487,022 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of VLO stock opened at $110.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.17. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month high of $174.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $127.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.52.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 53.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VLO shares. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $156.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Tudor Pickering raised Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $152.46.

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.