United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Grows Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund lifted its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 20.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $3,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC now owns 13,285 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,460,000 after buying an additional 2,754 shares during the last quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the second quarter worth about $701,000. Capital Analysts LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 11.6% during the second quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 3,042 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 32.4% during the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 156,631 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,793,000 after acquiring an additional 38,296 shares during the period. Finally, Affinity Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Valero Energy by 5.5% during the second quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,656 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VLO. Citigroup boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $259.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $292.00 to $356.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $203.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $279.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $286.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO stock opened at $341.36 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $135.01 and a 12-month high of $346.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $283.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.42. The company has a market capitalization of $98.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.