Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 62,493 Shares of Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 500,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,493 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Valvoline were worth $18,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Valvoline during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Valvoline by 466.7% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Valvoline during the 4th quarter valued at about $77,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Valvoline in the third quarter worth approximately $97,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 90.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,538 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valvoline

In related news, insider Julie Marie O’daniel sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total transaction of $224,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $572,560.05. This represents a 28.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Valvoline in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on Valvoline from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Valvoline in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Valvoline from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Valvoline from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.40.

Valvoline Stock Down 0.5 %

VVV opened at $35.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.78 and its 200 day moving average is $38.58. Valvoline Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.90 and a fifty-two week high of $48.27.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. Valvoline had a return on equity of 143.64% and a net margin of 16.34%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Valvoline Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Valvoline

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.