Simplicity Wealth LLC Raises Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 984.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,394 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 13,975 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $4,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3,400.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the first quarter worth $28,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 134.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $259.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $280.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $329.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $279.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $341.36 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $98.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $283.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.42. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $135.01 and a fifty-two week high of $346.09.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.11 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $44.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.47 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 26.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 40.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.92%.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.