Legal & General Group Plc Acquires New Stake in Valvoline $VVV

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 185,973 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,353,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.15% of Valvoline at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Valvoline during the second quarter valued at $3,640,000. Mcmorgan & Co. LLC bought a new position in Valvoline in the 2nd quarter worth about $223,000. L2 Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Valvoline during the 2nd quarter valued at about $426,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Valvoline during the 2nd quarter valued at about $226,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Valvoline during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,209,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VVV. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Valvoline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Valvoline in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Valvoline in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Valvoline in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Valvoline in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.88.

Valvoline Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VVV opened at $31.78 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.63. Valvoline has a 52-week low of $28.50 and a 52-week high of $41.33. The company has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.73 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.77.

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

Valvoline Company Profile

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).