ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Cuts Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC decreased its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,786 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $594,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 82.6% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.5% in the second quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 6,960 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 14,891 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Valero Energy by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 80,124 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,543,000 after buying an additional 16,654 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler raised Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.57.

Valero Energy Trading Up 3.0 %

Valero Energy stock opened at $138.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $116.84 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $131.10 and its 200-day moving average is $138.59. The company has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.42.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 2.74%. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.39%.

About Valero Energy

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.