Piper Sandler Reaffirms "Overweight" Rating for Valvoline (NYSE:VVV)

Key Points

• Piper Sandler reiterated an "Overweight" rating on Valvoline and raised its price objective to $44 (from $41), implying roughly a 21% upside from the current share price.
• Valvoline beat last quarter's estimates with $0.41 EPS and $503.8M revenue (revenue +25% YoY) and set FY2026 guidance of 1.65–1.75 EPS, in line with analyst expectations around 1.7.
• The stock carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" (11 Buys, 5 Holds, 1 Sell) with an average target of $40.87, and is heavily institutionally owned (about 96%), with major funds increasing stakes recently.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating restated by equities researchers at Piper Sandler in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $44.00 price objective on the basic materials company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $41.00. Piper Sandler's price target indicates a potential upside of 21.16% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Valvoline from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Valvoline from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Valvoline in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised Valvoline from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Valvoline from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valvoline currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.87.

Valvoline Price Performance

Shares of VVV traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 661,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,038,230. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.13 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.31. Valvoline has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $41.33.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $503.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.67 million. Valvoline had a net margin of 4.91% and a return on equity of 69.71%. The business's revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. Valvoline has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.650-1.750 EPS. Analysts predict that Valvoline will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valvoline

In related news, insider Julie Marie O'daniel sold 4,312 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.55, for a total value of $166,227.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $693,090.45. This trade represents a 19.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Valvoline by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,323,516 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $358,121,000 after acquiring an additional 94,813 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Valvoline by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,679,911 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $194,449,000 after buying an additional 1,142,290 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Valvoline by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,067,541 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $176,323,000 after buying an additional 610,014 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI raised its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 4,972,363 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $144,497,000 after buying an additional 220,642 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in Valvoline by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 4,281,095 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $124,409,000 after acquiring an additional 944,095 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valvoline Company Profile

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).

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