Squarepoint Ops LLC Reduces Position in Valvoline $VVV

Squarepoint Ops LLC trimmed its holdings in Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) by 79.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 144,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 569,593 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Valvoline were worth $5,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 10,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Valvoline by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 28,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Valvoline by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 9,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jordan M. Denny bought 1,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $33.20 per share, with a total value of $49,999.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,121 shares in the company, valued at $136,817.20. This trade represents a 57.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $114,040.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,918 shares in the company, valued at $836,720. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Valvoline Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:VVV opened at $30.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.23 and a beta of 0.99. Valvoline has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $41.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.77.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $544.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $543.21 million. Valvoline had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 65.12%. Valvoline’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Valvoline has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.700-1.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Valvoline will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on VVV. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Valvoline from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Valvoline from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Valvoline in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Valvoline in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Valvoline from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given 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 $43.06.

About Valvoline

Valvoline Inc (NYSE: VVV) is an automotive maintenance company focused on quick, convenient vehicle services. Through its company-operated and franchised service centers, the company provides oil changes and other routine maintenance designed to help extend vehicle performance and reliability.

Its services generally include conventional and synthetic oil changes, tire rotations, battery replacement, air-filter and wiper-blade replacement, fluid services, and other preventive maintenance.