Ethic Inc. Purchases 29,129 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 248.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 40,855 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 29,129 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $6,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VLO. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 161,957 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $21,770,000 after buying an additional 21,997 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 8.9% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 46,474 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,790 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 26.3% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 10,571 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 2,199 shares in the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,666,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,436,759 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $193,129,000 after purchasing an additional 244,675 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VLO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $177.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $169.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $183.00 price objective on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (up from $181.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Three equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.20.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total transaction of $1,728,540.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 134,196 shares in the company, valued at $23,352,787.92. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $165.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day moving average of $171.82 and a 200 day moving average of $157.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $185.62.

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

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company’s operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.