Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Makes New $34,000 Investment in Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VVV. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Valvoline by 57.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Valvoline by 1,617.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Valvoline during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Valvoline by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,940 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in Valvoline by 176.9% during the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VVV shares. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Valvoline in a report on Thursday, August 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Baird R W upgraded Valvoline to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Valvoline from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Valvoline from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valvoline presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.57.

Valvoline Price Performance

Valvoline stock opened at $40.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.57, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.54. Valvoline Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.15 and a 1 year high of $48.26.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $421.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $425.17 million. Valvoline had a return on equity of 182.88% and a net margin of 10.45%. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Valvoline Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current 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.