Criterion Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Criterion Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 30.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,478 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 645 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 4,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Valero Energy by 5.8% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,005,346 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $142,468,000 after buying an additional 55,351 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its position in Valero Energy by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 7,615 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $991,000 after buying an additional 2,529 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 198.8% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 16,605 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after buying an additional 11,047 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Valero Energy by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $362,569,000 after buying an additional 342,218 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:VLO traded up $2.72 on Friday, hitting $156.76. 3,899,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,947,304. The stock has a market cap of $51.26 billion, a PE ratio of 7.76, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $157.35 and a 200-day moving average of $150.09. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.16 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The business had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 16.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were issued a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In related news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total value of $113,846.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,105,209.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $176.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com lowered Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 23rd. Argus downgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Valero Energy from $179.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.00.

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.