Meeder Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Meeder Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 92.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 230 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,795 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $60,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 31.7% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 6,958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 21.7% during the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Valero Energy by 11.0% in the second quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,865 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Valero Energy by 43.7% in the second quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 204 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in Valero Energy in the second quarter worth $291,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valero Energy Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:VLO opened at $341.30 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $291.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.02. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $137.88 and a 52 week high of $352.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $98.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.11 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $44.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.47 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 26.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 40.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 19.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on VLO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $292.00 to $356.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, June 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,294,212.14. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by 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.