TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Sells 7,110 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,813 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 7,110 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $827,390,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 16.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,141,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,089,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164,217 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 162.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 523,692 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $70,395,000 after buying an additional 324,174 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,724,707 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,576,035,000 after buying an additional 286,942 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Valero Energy by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,706,187 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $286,076,000 after buying an additional 256,373 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total transaction of $1,728,540.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 134,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,352,787.92. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of VLO opened at $180.07 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $175.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.77. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month high of $194.50.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 1.91%.Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 59.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $169.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.53.

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.