TD Cowen Cuts Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) Price Target to $45.00

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) had its price objective trimmed by TD Cowen from $47.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Valvoline in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Valvoline in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Valvoline from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Valvoline from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Valvoline from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.56.

Valvoline Stock Performance

Shares of VVV stock opened at $35.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.30 and a beta of 1.00. Valvoline has a one year low of $28.50 and a one year high of $41.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last announced 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 return on equity of 65.12% and a net margin of 5.17%.The firm had revenue of $544.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $543.21 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Valvoline’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. Equities analysts anticipate that Valvoline will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan L. Caldwell sold 2,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $114,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,918 shares in the company, valued at $836,720. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO J Kevin Willis acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $31.80 per share, with a total value of $318,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 32,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,040,655. The trade was a 44.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 14,100 shares of company stock worth $450,877. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valvoline

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Valvoline during the 2nd quarter valued at about $501,851,000. Eminence Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Valvoline in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $122,409,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Valvoline by 142.0% in the fourth quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 2,738,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606,810 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 39.2% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,537,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $198,835,000 after buying an additional 1,560,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Valvoline during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,651,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).