Continuum Advisory LLC Lowers Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Continuum Advisory LLC reduced its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 93.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,343 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 20,507 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC's holdings in Valero Energy were worth $188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $87,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 19,449 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,049,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,129 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $647,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 425 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 263,004 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $41,229,000 after acquiring an additional 11,078 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO stock traded down $3.60 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $129.69. The stock had a trading volume of 2,066,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,906,384. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $136.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.06 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.39. Valero Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $120.34 and a 12 month high of $184.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.49 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Valero Energy's payout ratio is currently 38.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Valero Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $169.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $155.50.

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.