Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Purchased by Berger Financial Group Inc

Berger Financial Group Inc boosted its position in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 557.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,678 shares during the quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $9,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 40.7% in 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 buying an additional 7,735 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $528,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 269,043 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $36,165,000 after purchasing an additional 27,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 145,810 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $19,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Up 0.1%

Valero Energy stock opened at $267.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $79.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $130.78 and a fifty-two week high of $274.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $249.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.63.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The business had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 28.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VLO. Scotiabank increased their price target on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.59.

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.