Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. Has $13.66 Million Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 55,301 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,013 shares during the quarter. Valero Energy makes up about 4.0% of Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $13,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 33.5% during the fourth 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 period. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $954,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 359.0% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 14,243 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,319,000 after acquiring an additional 11,140 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 139.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 18,701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,178,000 after acquiring an additional 10,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 565,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $92,004,000 after acquiring an additional 112,118 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.59.

Valero Energy Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of VLO traded down $3.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $266.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 504,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,501,487. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $130.78 and a 52 week high of $274.92. The stock has a market cap of $79.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $249.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS 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 company had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 28.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total value of $2,011,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,294,212.14. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Valero Energy

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.