North Forty Two & Co. Acquires New Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,375 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Tobam bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 196.8% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 276 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $131.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $41.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.84 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $133.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.58.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 53.30%.

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.