Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC Sells 14,749 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 69.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,374 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 14,749 shares during the quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,111,542,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $275,239,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 2,635.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 950,527 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $154,736,000 after purchasing an additional 915,782 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,696,811 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $276,224,000 after purchasing an additional 560,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Valero Energy by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,668,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $922,728,000 after buying an additional 394,693 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $2,011,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on VLO shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $292.00 to $338.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $203.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.71.

Valero Energy Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:VLO opened at $304.99 on Tuesday. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $130.78 and a one year high of $320.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $90.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $266.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $235.67.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. The firm had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 36.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Valero Energy Company 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.