On April 26, 2023 at 12:18:09 ET an unusually large $261.12K block of Call contracts in Valero Energy (VLO) was sold, with a strike price of $140.00 / share, expiring in 142 day(s) (on September 15, 2023). Fintel tracks all large options trades, and the premium spent on this trade was 1.00 sigmas above the mean, placing it in the 82.46th percentile of all recent large trades made in VLO options.

This trade was first picked up on Fintel’s real time Options Flow tool, where unusual option trades are highlighted.

What is the Fund Sentiment?

There are 2366 funds or institutions reporting positions in Valero Energy. This is an increase of 58 owner(s) or 2.51% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to VLO is 0.38%, a decrease of 9.64%. Total shares owned by institutions decreased in the last three months by 3.84% to 342,775K shares. The put/call ratio of VLO is 0.93, indicating a bullish outlook.

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 38.21% Upside

As of April 24, 2023, the average one-year price target for Valero Energy is $162.88. The forecasts range from a low of $130.29 to a high of $197.40. The average price target represents an increase of 38.21% from its latest reported closing price of $117.85.

See our leaderboard of companies with the largest price target upside.

The projected annual revenue for Valero Energy is $149,328MM, a decrease of 12.77%. The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is $17.08.

What are Other Shareholders Doing?

Legacy Trust holds 10K shares representing 0.00% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 33K shares, representing a decrease of 226.13%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in VLO by 67.45% over the last quarter.

Amalgamated Bank holds 101K shares representing 0.03% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 105K shares, representing a decrease of 4.01%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in VLO by 5.46% over the last quarter.

DLQAX – BNY Mellon Large Cap Equity Fund holds 23K shares representing 0.01% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 47K shares, representing a decrease of 101.55%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in VLO by 37.03% over the last quarter.

SILVX – SGI U.S. Large Cap Equity Fund Class I holds 67K shares representing 0.02% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 52K shares, representing an increase of 22.49%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in VLO by 42.38% over the last quarter.

Fulcrum Equity Management holds 4K shares representing 0.00% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 0K shares, representing an increase of 100.00%.

Valero Energy Declares $1.02 Dividend

On January 31, 2023 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share ($4.08 annualized). Shareholders of record as of February 14, 2023 received the payment on March 16, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.98 per share.

At the current share price of $117.85 / share, the stock’s dividend yield is 3.46%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 4.75%, the lowest has been 2.57%, and the highest has been 12.02%. The standard deviation of yields is 1.69 (n=237).

The current dividend yield is 0.76 standard deviations below the historical average.

Additionally, the company’s dividend payout ratio is 0.13. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company’s income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company’s income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend – not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company’s 3-Year dividend growth rate is 0.04%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.

Valero Energy Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries (collectively, “Valero”), is an international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels and petrochemical products. Valero is a Fortune 50 company based in San Antonio, Texas, and it operates 15 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.2 million barrels per day and 13 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of approximately 1.68 billion gallons per year. The petroleum refineries are located in the United States (U.S.), Canada and the United Kingdom (U.K.), and the ethanol plants are located in the Mid-Continent region of the U.S. Valero is also a joint venture partner in Diamond Green Diesel, which owns and operates a renewable diesel plant in Norco, Louisiana. Diamond Green Diesel is North America’s largest biomass-based diesel plant. Valero sells its products in the wholesale rack or bulk markets in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland and Latin America. Approximately 7,000 outlets carry Valero’s brand names.

See all Valero Energy regulatory filings.

This article originally appeared on Fintel

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