AIA Group Ltd Makes New Investment in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

AIA Group Ltd acquired a new stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 45,100 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,679,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keel Point LLC acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the third quarter worth $224,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 139.9% in the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 18,701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,178,000 after buying an additional 10,905 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at $357,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 48,883 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,323,000 after buying an additional 9,839 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 173,650 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $29,566,000 after acquiring an additional 16,798 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VLO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price target (down from $198.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price 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. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.20.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $238.73 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.60. The stock has a market cap of $71.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.70. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month high of $242.56.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.35% and a net margin of 1.91%.The firm had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were paid a $1.20 dividend. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.83%.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.69, for a total transaction of $1,892,331.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,618,080.98. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.