Accredited Wealth Management LLC Acquires 3,565 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Accredited Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 3,565.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,665 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,565 shares during the quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after purchasing an additional 7,735 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,814 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,319,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 2.0% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,518 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VLO shares. Zacks Research downgraded Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $198.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued 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 assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.67.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:VLO opened at $204.49 on Friday. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $99.00 and a 52 week high of $206.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $185.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $62.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.77.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 1.91%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 62.83%.

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.