Jones Financial Companies Lllp Grows Stake in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 14.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 164,331 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,188 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp owned about 0.05% of Valero Energy worth $28,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 70.2% in the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. GFG Capital LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 1,277.8% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 248 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total value of $1,728,540.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 134,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,352,787.92. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VLO. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Monday, November 10th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 target price (down previously from $198.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Valero Energy from $181.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.53.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $192.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $58.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.77. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.44. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $99.00 and a 52 week high of $194.50.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 1.91%.The firm had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 5th. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.16%.

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.