RKL Wealth Management LLC Invests $245,000 in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

RKL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,815 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 2.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,956,743 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,090,532,000 after buying an additional 192,397 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Valero Energy by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $677,007,000 after buying an additional 237,347 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 1.9% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,018,107 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $473,118,000 after buying an additional 56,989 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Valero Energy by 3.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,809,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $440,394,000 after buying an additional 82,539 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Valero Energy by 3.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,063,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $352,292,000 after buying an additional 65,632 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $136.69 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $135.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $43.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.39. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $119.88 and a twelve month high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 9.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Valero Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $172.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $177.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.29.

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.