Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Sells 800 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,139 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,784 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 5,070 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 4,687 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.08.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO opened at $127.00 on Monday. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $116.84 and a 12-month high of $184.79. The stock has a market cap of $40.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $132.76 and a 200-day moving average of $134.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were given a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.