Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 486.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,323 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,975 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $19,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in Valero Energy by 3,400.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 134.0% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,294,212.14. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $280.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.53.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $295.96 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.92. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $130.78 and a 12 month high of $297.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 31.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

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.