State of Michigan Retirement System Raises Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 0.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 106,162 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $18,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 40.3% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 303 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 13,314 shares in the company, valued at $2,105,209.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on VLO. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Valero Energy from $184.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Mizuho cut their target price on Valero Energy from $176.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.47.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE VLO opened at $157.96 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $51.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.16 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.02 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm’s revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 16.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were given a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.