Private Advisor Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV)

Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 6,174 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,096,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $171,436,000 after buying an additional 16,916 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Valvoline by 8.1% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 422,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,702,000 after buying an additional 31,661 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Valvoline during the third quarter valued at $4,628,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Valvoline by 118.2% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 67,948 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,844,000 after purchasing an additional 36,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Valvoline by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,226,769 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $93,215,000 after purchasing an additional 54,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Robert Travis Dobbins sold 1,914 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $76,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 14,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $598,240. The trade was a 11.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Julie Marie O’daniel sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total transaction of $224,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $572,560.05. This represents a 28.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VVV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Valvoline from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Valvoline in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Valvoline from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Valvoline from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Valvoline from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.40.

Valvoline Stock Performance

VVV opened at $35.20 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.23. Valvoline Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.90 and a 1 year high of $48.26. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.39, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. Valvoline had a return on equity of 143.64% and a net margin of 16.34%. Equities analysts expect that Valvoline Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valvoline Profile

Valvoline Inc engages in the operation and franchising of vehicle service centers and retail stores in the United States and Canada. The company, through its service centers, provides fluid exchange for motor oil, transmission and differential fluid, and coolant; parts replacement for batteries, filters, wiper blades, and belts; and safety services, such as tire inflation and rotation, bulbs, and safety checks.