International Assets Investment Management LLC Sells 3,674 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

International Assets Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 45.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,492 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,674 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Valero Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after acquiring an additional 7,735 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 13.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $528,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 269,043 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $36,165,000 after purchasing an additional 27,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 145,810 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $261.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.53.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $295.96 on Tuesday. 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 twelve month low of $130.78 and a twelve month high of $297.66. The stock has a market cap of $87.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s fifty day moving average is $254.22 and its 200 day moving average is $225.92.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. The business had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 31.04 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,294,212.14. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.