Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Makes New $39.52 Million Investment in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 231,516 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,517,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $570,428,000. Putnam Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 3,445,821 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $447,957,000 after buying an additional 122,207 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,389,654 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $310,655,000 after buying an additional 376,449 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 3.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,063,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $352,292,000 after buying an additional 65,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 37.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $266,040,000 after buying an additional 426,093 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $177.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.00.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO traded down $7.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $148.56. 3,457,861 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,709,691. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $153.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $119.88 and a twelve month high of $184.79.

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. The company had revenue of $34.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 13.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.20%.

Valero Energy 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.