Childress Capital Advisors LLC Sells 807 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Childress Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 32.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,687 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 807 shares during the quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Valero Energy by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,287,269 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,389,090,000 after buying an additional 50,837 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,687,585 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $639,268,000 after purchasing an additional 247,630 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,072,188 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $499,210,000 after purchasing an additional 487,022 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 4,908.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,850,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $384,907,000 after purchasing an additional 2,793,607 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its position in Valero Energy by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,533,434 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $342,090,000 after purchasing an additional 151,200 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VLO. Bank of America assumed coverage on Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.46.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $142.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $116.84 and a 52 week high of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $130.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. Sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.29 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.30%.

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.