Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Sells 120 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,915 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth $570,428,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 12,883.3% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,047,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $136,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,293 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 37.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $266,040,000 after acquiring an additional 426,093 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,389,654 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $310,655,000 after acquiring an additional 376,449 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 721.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 337,911 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,927,000 after acquiring an additional 296,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total value of $113,846.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,105,209.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $177.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.07.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock traded up $2.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $159.12. 3,134,170 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,079,113. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $119.88 and a one year high of $184.79. The stock has a market cap of $52.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.11. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 24.82%. The firm had revenue of $34.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 13.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

Valero Energy Company Profile

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.