AXQ Capital LP Purchases New Shares in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,643 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,244,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 7,735 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 13.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in Valero Energy during the second quarter valued at $528,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Valero Energy by 11.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 269,043 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $36,165,000 after acquiring an additional 27,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Valero Energy by 0.9% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 145,810 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $95,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VLO shares. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $203.00 price objective on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $182.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

Valero Energy Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $252.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $125.10 and a 1 year high of $263.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $243.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.74. The stock has a market cap of $75.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 26.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

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.