National Bank of Canada FI Increases Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 290,518 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,484 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.09% of Valero Energy worth $38,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 6,104 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth $557,000. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $113,000. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $1,538,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Valero Energy by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,620 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,291,000 after buying an additional 1,508 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Valero Energy stock traded up $1.84 during trading on Monday, reaching $158.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 942,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,247,805. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $105.49 and a 1-year high of $184.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $51.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.02 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 24.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on VLO shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.40.

Valero Energy Company Profile

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.