Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Buys Shares of 23,620 Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 23,620 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $988,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 92.1% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 630 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valvoline during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 1,617.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 807 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 46.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,465 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens started coverage on shares of Valvoline in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Valvoline from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Baird R W upgraded Valvoline to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Valvoline in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Valvoline from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.75.

Valvoline Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of VVV stock traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 651,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,191,718. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.57. Valvoline Inc. has a one year low of $29.15 and a one year high of $48.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11 and a beta of 1.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $41.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.06.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.03). Valvoline had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 182.88%. The company had revenue of $421.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $425.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Valvoline Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Valvoline declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 30th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Valvoline 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.