Prudential Financial Inc. Buys 522,233 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 159.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 850,161 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 522,233 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $104,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Tobam purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 196.8% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 276 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VLO. Tudor Pickering raised Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.08.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $132.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $116.84 and a one year high of $184.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $133.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.36.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.30%.

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.