Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Has $827,000 Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Auxano Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 20,851 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,491 shares in the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth $225,000. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 62,032 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,064,000 after acquiring an additional 3,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intrust Bank NA lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 13,180 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on VLO shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $179.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $130.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.40.

Valero Energy Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of VLO stock opened at $159.79 on Wednesday. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $104.18 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $162.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.29. The company has a market cap of $53.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.91, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The business had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.37 earnings per share for the current year.

About Valero Energy

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.