Chesapeake Wealth Management Lowers Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Chesapeake Wealth Management lowered its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,052 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VLO. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 8.2% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 10.2% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 11,229 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 4.1% during the second quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 212.6% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 8,813 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 4.9% during the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 17,350 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VLO shares. Citigroup cut their price target on Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays cut their price target on Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America started coverage on Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.57.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

VLO opened at $141.21 on Tuesday. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $116.84 and a 52 week high of $184.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.20. The firm has a market cap of $44.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 2.74%. Valero Energy’s revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.39%.

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.