Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 32.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 368,454 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $49,752,000 after buying an additional 3,065 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 25.6% in the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,358 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $939,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 7,389 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $998,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 8.9% in the third quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 2,292 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE VLO opened at $127.00 on Monday. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.84 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The stock has a market cap of $40.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty 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 results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a $1.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.30%.

Valero Energy Profile

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.