Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Reduces Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 70,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,652 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $11,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VLO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,111,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,273,517 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $897,869,000 after acquiring an additional 249,195 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $705,502,000 after acquiring an additional 209,597 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,904,181 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $324,206,000 after acquiring an additional 43,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $275,239,000. 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 8,311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,618,080.98. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Valero Energy Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $252.78 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $75.06 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $243.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.74. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $125.10 and a 12-month high of $263.75.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on VLO shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $182.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

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.