Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $9.89 Million Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 269.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,095 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 46,033 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $9,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 37.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 426,093 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $677,007,000 after acquiring an additional 237,347 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,550,010 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $238,841,000 after acquiring an additional 232,494 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,517,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,145,117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $179,490,000 after acquiring an additional 194,974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $169.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.20.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE VLO opened at $142.42 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $142.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.88. The stock has a market cap of $46.57 billion, a PE ratio of 7.05, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.39. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $119.88 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $34.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 10.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 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.