South Dakota Investment Council Cuts Stock Holdings in Valvoline $VVV

South Dakota Investment Council cut its stake in Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) by 19.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,755 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 19,800 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned about 0.06% of Valvoline worth $2,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 67.3% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,977,293 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $150,604,000 after buying an additional 1,599,973 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in Valvoline by 14.4% in the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 3,337,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $119,832,000 after acquiring an additional 419,094 shares in the last quarter. Sculptor Capital LP raised its holdings in Valvoline by 47.5% in the second quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $113,610,000 after acquiring an additional 966,500 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Valvoline by 118.8% in the second quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,678,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $101,449,000 after acquiring an additional 1,454,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Valvoline by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,324,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $88,024,000 after acquiring an additional 11,060 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valvoline

In other news, insider Julie Marie O’daniel sold 4,312 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.55, for a total transaction of $166,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $693,090.45. This represents a 19.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VVV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Valvoline in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Valvoline from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Valvoline in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $40.00 target price on Valvoline in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Valvoline in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.25.

Valvoline Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VVV opened at $36.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.17 and a beta of 1.16. Valvoline has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $41.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.31.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $461.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $466.87 million. Valvoline had a net margin of 4.91% and a return on equity of 69.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Valvoline has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.600-1.700 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Valvoline will post 1.63 earnings per share 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).