Norden Group LLC Makes New Investment in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 45,016 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,683,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 6.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,961,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,269,949,000 after acquiring an additional 517,068 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $570,428,000. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 3,445,821 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $447,957,000 after purchasing an additional 122,207 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after purchasing an additional 342,218 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $310,655,000 after purchasing an additional 376,449 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VLO. Mizuho decreased their target price on Valero Energy from $176.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO stock opened at $158.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.94. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $112.16 and a 12-month high of $184.79. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The business had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 16.09 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In related news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,105,209.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.