Fulton Bank N.A. Grows Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VLO. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 4,908.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,850,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $384,907,000 after purchasing an additional 2,793,607 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 11,318.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,076,349 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $145,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,923 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in Valero Energy by 900.2% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 631,095 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $85,217,000 after acquiring an additional 568,000 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,585,166 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $484,105,000 after acquiring an additional 567,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the third quarter worth $70,352,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $125.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $116.84 and a one year high of $184.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $131.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on VLO. Barclays reduced their target price on Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $169.00 to $123.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.57.

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.