Aigen Investment Management LP Acquires 15,563 Shares of Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV)

Aigen Investment Management LP grew its holdings in Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV) by 275.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,214 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,563 shares during the quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP’s holdings in Valvoline were worth $768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 9,738,142 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $407,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398,310 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,096,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $171,436,000 after purchasing an additional 16,916 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 2.5% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,642,754 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $59,435,000 after purchasing an additional 16,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,577,313 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $57,067,000 after purchasing an additional 349,778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Valvoline from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 price objective (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Valvoline in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Valvoline from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Julie Marie O’daniel sold 6,000 shares of Valvoline stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 15,305 shares in the company, valued at $572,560.05. This trade represents a 28.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Robert Travis Dobbins sold 1,914 shares of Valvoline stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $76,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 14,956 shares in the company, valued at $598,240. This trade represents a 11.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Valvoline Stock Performance

Shares of VVV opened at $35.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.70. Valvoline Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.90 and a twelve month high of $48.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.23. The firm has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 1.45.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts forecast that Valvoline Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.