J Kevin Willis Buys 10,000 Shares of Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) Stock

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) CFO J Kevin Willis purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $31.80 per share, for a total transaction of $318,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,040,655. This trade represents a 44.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Valvoline Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE:VVV traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.03. 610,443 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,083,505. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $33.84 and its 200-day moving average is $33.14. Valvoline has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $41.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.26 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $503.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.67 million. Valvoline had a return on equity of 66.54% and a net margin of 5.03%.Valvoline’s quarterly revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. Valvoline has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Valvoline will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valvoline

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC grew its position in shares of Valvoline by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 10,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Valvoline by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 28,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Valvoline by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Valvoline by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. grew its position in shares of Valvoline by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 9,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on VVV. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Valvoline in a report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Valvoline from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Valvoline from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Valvoline in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on Valvoline from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.36.

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).