Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Has $2.73 Million Stake in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 34.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,058 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,805 shares during the quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Valero Energy by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 42,376 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,898,000 after buying an additional 10,634 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $705,502,000 after acquiring an additional 209,597 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $954,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 359.0% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 14,243 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,319,000 after acquiring an additional 11,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,249,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total value of $1,776,750.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 27,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,453,629.80. This represents a 21.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $259.05 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $76.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $130.78 and a 12-month high of $265.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $246.28 and its 200-day moving average is $217.67.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 27.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VLO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.59.

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company’s operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.