LSV Asset Management Sells 47,450 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

LSV Asset Management cut its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,740,022 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 47,450 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.51% of Valero Energy worth $226,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 12,883.3% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,047,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $136,157,000 after buying an additional 1,039,293 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,429,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $202,585,000 after buying an additional 694,224 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Valero Energy by 6.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 517,068 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $362,569,000 after buying an additional 342,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in Valero Energy by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 938,771 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $122,040,000 after purchasing an additional 250,326 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VLO. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $179.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $150.00 to $173.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.40.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Valero Energy stock traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $156.84. The stock had a trading volume of 2,356,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,689,989. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $104.18 and a 12-month high of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $52.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $163.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.69.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 24.82%. The firm had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.02 earnings per share for the current year.

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.