Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV) Short Interest Down 18.8% in March

Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,280,000 shares, a decline of 18.8% from the March 15th total of 7,730,000 shares. Approximately 4.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in Valvoline during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Valvoline by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 931 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Valvoline during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. First Manhattan CO. LLC. bought a new stake in Valvoline during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Valvoline during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on VVV shares. Mizuho began coverage on Valvoline in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Valvoline from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised Valvoline from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Valvoline from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.75.

Valvoline Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VVV traded down $0.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $41.64. The company had a trading volume of 817,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,190,835. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.02, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.24. Valvoline has a 12 month low of $29.15 and a 12 month high of $45.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.44.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.29. Valvoline had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 92.04%. The firm had revenue of $373.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $380.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Valvoline will post 1.6 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.