Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Invests $6.75 Million in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 41,445 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,747,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,177,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,959,065,000 after purchasing an additional 163,975 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,950,982 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,945,500,000 after purchasing an additional 63,919 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $1,111,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,668,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $922,728,000 after purchasing an additional 394,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $705,502,000 after purchasing an additional 209,597 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of VLO opened at $239.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $71.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $130.78 and a 1 year high of $265.61.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. The business had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 27.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on VLO. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $203.00 price objective on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Mizuho upped their target price on Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.59.

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.