Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 354,212 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,240 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Valero Energy worth $60,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Valero Energy by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after acquiring an additional 7,735 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Valero Energy by 13.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 9.8% during the second quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 4,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 126.4% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 3,616 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 183.4% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,193 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $967,000 after acquiring an additional 4,655 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on Valero Energy in a report on Monday, November 10th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 134,196 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO stock opened at $192.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $175.73 and its 200-day moving average is $164.44. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $194.50.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.20 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 1.91%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.16%.

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.