Providence Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Providence Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,784 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VLO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,287,269 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,389,090,000 after acquiring an additional 50,837 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 2.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,956,743 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,090,532,000 after acquiring an additional 192,397 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Valero Energy by 5.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $677,007,000 after acquiring an additional 237,347 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 18.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,585,166 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $484,105,000 after acquiring an additional 567,059 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Valero Energy by 3.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,809,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $440,394,000 after acquiring an additional 82,539 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $138.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.39. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $120.21 and a 12-month high of $184.79. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.47.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 2.74%. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.49 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VLO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler lowered Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.86.

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.