Farther Finance Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valvoline were worth $128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in Valvoline by 16.8% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 9,738,142 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $407,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398,310 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Valvoline by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,096,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $171,436,000 after acquiring an additional 16,916 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $93,215,000 after acquiring an additional 54,545 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Valvoline by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,642,754 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,435,000 after acquiring an additional 16,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Valvoline by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,577,313 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $57,067,000 after acquiring an additional 349,778 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VVV. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Valvoline from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Valvoline from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Valvoline in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Valvoline from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Valvoline in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.40.

Valvoline Price Performance

VVV stock opened at $35.64 on Friday. Valvoline Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.90 and a 1 year high of $48.27. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.85 and a 200 day moving average of $38.80. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. Valvoline had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 143.64%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Valvoline Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valvoline news, insider Julie Marie O’daniel sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value of $224,460.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $572,560.05. This represents a 28.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

About Valvoline

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.