Townsquare Capital LLC Decreases Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Townsquare Capital LLC reduced its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,489 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 455 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the second quarter worth $15,945,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,293,589 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $174,673,000 after acquiring an additional 22,571 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $535,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 23.7% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 42,716 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,696,000 after buying an additional 8,198 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,956,743 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,090,532,000 after purchasing an additional 192,397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VLO shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.86.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock opened at $139.08 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $136.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.28. Valero Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $184.79. The company has a market capitalization of $44.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.39. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 38.39%.

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.