Golden State Wealth Management LLC Buys New Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 311 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VLO. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 22,571 shares in the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,226,000. Hudson Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 31,792 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,897,000 after buying an additional 1,937 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $274,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 7.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 89,762 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,121,000 after purchasing an additional 6,278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $136.90 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.90. The company has a market cap of $43.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.14, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $116.84 and a 1 year high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VLO shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut 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 report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.46.

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.