Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Lowers Stake in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH cut its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 7.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 178,657 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 13,470 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $30,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Valero Energy by 70.2% in the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 1,277.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 248 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Valero Energy from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $192.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $201.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Monday, November 10th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.20.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:VLO opened at $164.79 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.60. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $185.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.76.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $32.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.80 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 8.69%. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th were given a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total transaction of $1,728,540.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 134,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,352,787.92. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Valero Energy

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.