Richard Joseph Freeland Purchases 3,100 Shares of Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) Stock

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) Director Richard Joseph Freeland acquired 3,100 shares of Valvoline stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.37 per share, for a total transaction of $100,347.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 16,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $521,545.44. The trade was a 23.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Valvoline Stock Performance

Shares of VVV opened at $32.40 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.14. Valvoline has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $41.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 44.39 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. Valvoline had a return on equity of 66.54% and a net margin of 5.03%.The firm had revenue of $503.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.67 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. Valvoline has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Valvoline will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VVV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho set a $40.00 target price on Valvoline in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Valvoline in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research upgraded Valvoline from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Valvoline from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Valvoline from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Valvoline presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valvoline

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 0.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 94,813 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,679,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $194,449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142,290 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 11.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 610,014 shares during the period. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI increased its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 4.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 220,642 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 4,281,095 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,409,000 after purchasing an additional 944,095 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).