Summit Global Investments Grows Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Summit Global Investments boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 185.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,017 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 3,906 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Valero Energy were worth $943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $570,428,000. Putnam Investments LLC grew its position in Valero Energy by 3.7% during 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 during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 18.7% during 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 during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Valero Energy by 3.3% during 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 during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Valero Energy by 37.6% during 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 during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VLO shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.00.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock traded down $6.96 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $141.26. 4,025,786 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,018,399. The company has a market cap of $45.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $151.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $119.88 and a 12-month high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $34.49 billion for 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%. Valero Energy’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

About Valero Energy

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.