Castleark Management LLC Reduces Stake in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Castleark Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 62.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,560 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,850 shares during the quarter. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 276.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,425,754,000 after buying an additional 7,931,018 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $827,390,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Valero Energy by 16.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,141,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,089,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164,217 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 81.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,413,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $186,498,000 after acquiring an additional 633,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the second quarter worth about $86,647,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VLO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price (up from $181.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $169.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank began coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Monday, November 10th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total value of $1,728,540.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 134,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,352,787.92. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $168.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $51.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $171.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.68. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $185.62.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.51. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The firm had revenue of $32.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 94.36%.

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.