Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) Lifted to “Overweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV – Get Rating) was upgraded by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, The Fly reports. The brokerage presently has a $36.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $30.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 29.50% from the company’s previous close. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on VVV. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Valvoline from $40.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Valvoline from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Valvoline in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valvoline presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.17.

VVV opened at $27.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.95, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.16. Valvoline has a 1 year low of $26.69 and a 1 year high of $37.97.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48. The firm had revenue of $886.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $887.10 million. Valvoline had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 536.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Valvoline will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in shares of Valvoline during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,172,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Valvoline by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 14,892 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 6,715 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Valvoline by 166.4% during the third quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 34,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after buying an additional 21,581 shares during the period. Stonnington Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valvoline during the fourth quarter valued at about $621,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Valvoline by 11.9% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 1,888 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.04% of the company’s stock.

About Valvoline (Get Rating)

Valvoline Inc manufactures, markets, and supplies, engine and automotive maintenance products and services. It operates through two segments, Retail Services and Global Products. The company offers lubricants for passenger car, light duty, and heavy duty; antifreeze/coolants for original equipment manufacturers; functional and maintenance chemicals, such as brake fluids and power steering fluids, as well as specialty coatings for automotive and industrial applications; and oil and air filters for light-duty vehicles.

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