Bank of New York Mellon Corp Decreases Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,714,716 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 133,772 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $441,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 975 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 206 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,788 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 16,268 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,651,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE VLO opened at $261.93 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $243.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.92. The stock has a market cap of $77.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.55. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $125.50 and a 12-month high of $265.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 owned 42,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VLO. Raymond James Financial increased 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 note on Wednesday, March 25th. Mizuho increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $203.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.