HighTower Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 131,823 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 15,653 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $22,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VLO. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 145.3% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 211 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of Valero Energy 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. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VLO. Citigroup upped their target price on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $169.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.67.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE VLO opened at $199.60 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $180.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Valero Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $99.00 and a twelve month high of $206.77. The company has a market capitalization of $60.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.77.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $30.37 billion during 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 revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.83%.

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.