111,800 Shares in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Bought by Payden & Rygel

Payden & Rygel acquired a new stake in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 111,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,035,000. Valero Energy accounts for 1.6% of Payden & Rygel’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Valero Energy by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after acquiring an additional 7,735 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 13.0% in the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 11,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,402,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.1% during the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 129,274 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of VLO opened at $200.73 on Monday. Valero Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $99.00 and a twelve month high of $206.77. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $61.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.27, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $182.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.84.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. The business 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%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company 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 positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $192.00 target price (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Friday, December 12th. Argus raised shares of Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.67.

Valero Energy 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.