B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 13.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,604 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,740 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VLO. 1ST Source Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 4,286 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $579,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the third quarter worth about $2,283,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,687,585 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $639,268,000 after acquiring an additional 247,630 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Valero Energy by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 20,642 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,787,000 after purchasing an additional 6,272 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $342,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Down 3.2 %

VLO stock opened at $125.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.39. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $124.02 and a 52 week high of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $135.89 and a 200 day moving average of $143.00.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler lowered Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $169.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.07.

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.