Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) by 45.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 86,000 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 70,900 shares during the period. Valero Energy makes up approximately 1.7% of Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.'s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $10,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VLO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,635,050 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $775,264,000 after buying an additional 587,056 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,785,075 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $404,460,000 after buying an additional 159,680 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,275,439 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $243,130,000 after buying an additional 10,174 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,945,548 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $246,812,000 after buying an additional 110,819 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,436,937 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $153,536,000 after buying an additional 565,324 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on VLO shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 20th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Tudor Pickering downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $176.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $152.38.

Valero Energy Price Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $119.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.11, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $132.56 and a 200-day moving average of $130.14. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $96.71 and a 52 week high of $150.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The oil and gas company reported $8.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.45 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $41.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.31 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 13th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. This is a boost from Valero Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.01%.

Valero Energy Profile

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Valero Energy Corp. engages in the manufacture and marketing of transportation fuels and other petrochemical products. It operates through the following business segments: Refining, Ethanol and Renewable Diesel. The Refining segment consists of refining operations, associated marketing activities, and logistics assets that support its refining operations.

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