Denali Advisors LLC Buys 2,718 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Denali Advisors LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 73.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,418 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,718 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the third quarter worth $34,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 145.3% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 211 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 1,277.8% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 248 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VLO. Wall Street Zen upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (up from $181.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.67.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO opened at $200.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $179.95 and a 200 day moving average of $168.02. 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 $206.77. The firm has a market cap of $61.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.77.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 62.83%.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 134,196 shares in the company, valued at $23,352,787.92. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Company 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.