Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) Rating Increased to Neutral at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $35.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Valvoline from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Mizuho set a $40.00 target price on shares of Valvoline in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Valvoline in a research report on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Valvoline from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 target price (up from $41.00) on shares of Valvoline in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.93.

Valvoline Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VVV opened at $33.79 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.21. Valvoline has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $41.33. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 46.28 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.73.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard Joseph Freeland bought 3,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.37 per share, with a total value of $100,347.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 16,112 shares in the company, valued at $521,545.44. This represents a 23.82% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jennifer Lynn Slater bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.53 per share, with a total value of $32,530.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,530. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 14,100 shares of company stock valued at $450,877 over the last 90 days. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Balefire LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 90,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,639,000 after purchasing an additional 29,204 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 3.2% in the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 922,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,127,000 after purchasing an additional 28,259 shares during the period. Broyhill Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valvoline in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,616,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Valvoline in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,394,000. Finally, Fieldview Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valvoline in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,287,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

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).