Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 14.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 256,396 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 44,814 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $43,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DSG Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,803 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group grew its stake in Valero Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 18,786 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,381 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 70.2% in the 3rd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 476 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on VLO. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Valero Energy in a report on Monday, November 10th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $23,352,787.92. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of VLO opened at $199.60 on Wednesday. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $99.00 and a 12 month high of $204.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $177.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.36. 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 stock has a market cap of $60.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.83%.

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.