Journey Advisory Group LLC Invests $627,000 in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Journey Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,680 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $627,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,532,000 after acquiring an additional 7,735 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in Valero Energy by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,768 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 11,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after buying an additional 1,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,402,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $200.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $182.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.58. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $99.00 and a 52 week high of $206.77. The stock has a market cap of $61.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.77.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.20 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, 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 issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VLO. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $192.00 price objective (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.67.

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.