Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Purchased by Busey Bank

Busey Bank grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 80,224 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,513 shares during the quarter. Busey Bank’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $9,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning raised its stake in Valero Energy by 10.7% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 81,476 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,772,000 after buying an additional 7,849 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 26,606 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 16.4% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,344 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,880 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 4.8% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 116,120 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $18,203,000 after purchasing an additional 5,295 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the second quarter valued at $255,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLO has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of 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 target price on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.54.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $139.44 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $116.84 and a 1-year high of $184.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $131.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.71.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 2.74%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.