Fiera Capital Corp Purchases New Shares in Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV)

Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 610,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,538,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in Valvoline during the first quarter worth about $237,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 23.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 554,416 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,710,000 after purchasing an additional 106,151 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Valvoline by 97.6% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 29,843 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after buying an additional 14,739 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 28.8% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,453,000 after buying an additional 28,254 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Valvoline by 6.4% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,130,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,857,000 after buying an additional 68,340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VVV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens began coverage on Valvoline in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Valvoline from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Valvoline from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Valvoline from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Valvoline in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valvoline presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.75.

Valvoline Stock Performance

Shares of VVV stock opened at $42.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.03. Valvoline Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.15 and a 12 month high of $48.26.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $421.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $425.17 million. Valvoline had a return on equity of 182.88% and a net margin of 10.45%. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Valvoline Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Valvoline announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Valvoline Company Profile

Valvoline Inc engages in the operation and franchising of vehicle service centers and retail stores in the United States and Canada. The company, through its service centers, provides fluid exchange for motor oil, transmission and differential fluid, and coolant; parts replacement for batteries, filters, wiper blades, and belts; and safety services, such as tire inflation and rotation, bulbs, and safety checks.