Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) Upgraded at Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

VVV has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Valvoline from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Valvoline in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Valvoline from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research cut Valvoline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Valvoline from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.88.

Valvoline Price Performance

Shares of VVV stock opened at $33.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.77. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.40 and a beta of 1.00. Valvoline has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $41.33.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $544.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $543.21 million. Valvoline had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 65.12%. The company’s revenue was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Valvoline has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.700-1.750 EPS. Research analysts expect that Valvoline will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valvoline

In other Valvoline news, CAO Jordan M. Denny bought 1,506 shares of Valvoline stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $33.20 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief accounting officer owned 4,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $136,817.20. The trade was a 57.59% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan L. Caldwell sold 2,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $114,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $836,720. The trade was a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valvoline

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Valvoline during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $501,851,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Valvoline by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,323,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $358,121,000 after buying an additional 94,813 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,679,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $194,449,000 after buying an additional 1,142,290 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,067,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $176,323,000 after buying an additional 610,014 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Management Inc. WI boosted its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 4,972,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $144,497,000 after buying an additional 220,642 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Valvoline

Valvoline (NYSE: VVV) is a leading global producer and distributor of automotive and industrial lubricants. The company’s portfolio spans engine oils, gear oils, transmission fluids, greases, coolants and driveline products, all designed to help improve vehicle performance and longevity. Valvoline’s products are marketed under the Valvoline®, Valvoline NextGen® and Valvoline™ SynPower® brand names and are formulated to meet the stringent requirements of passenger cars, light trucks, heavy‐duty vehicles and off‐road applications.

In addition to its core lubricant business, Valvoline operates one of North America’s largest quick‐lubricant service networks through Valvoline Instant Oil Change℠ (VIOC).