AdvisorShares Investments LLC Acquires Shares of 2,960 Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,960 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $482,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 3.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 491,134 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $83,620,000 after purchasing an additional 17,165 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 42,376 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,898,000 after purchasing an additional 10,634 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $705,502,000 after purchasing an additional 209,597 shares in the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 13.7% during the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 115,183 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,612,000 after purchasing an additional 13,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $954,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $245.08 on Friday. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $125.10 and a one year high of $263.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $242.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.03. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $72.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VLO. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 report on Monday, April 6th. Argus upgraded shares of Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total transaction of $95,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy 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.