Value Line, Inc. (VALU) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
You can invest in Value Line (VALU) by buying shares or fractional shares at any major US broker, through a small-cap or financial-data ETF that happens to hold it, or as one holding in a thematic basket. Value Line is one of the oldest names in independent investment research: it publishes The Value Line Investment Survey and related periodicals, licenses its proprietary stock ranks and data to third parties, and earns a large, separate stream of income from its non-voting interest in EULAV Asset Management (EAM), the firm that runs the Value Line family of mutual funds. The single most important thing to understand is that VALU is really two businesses in one ticker: a slow-growing legacy research publisher plus a meaningful, market-sensitive claim on EAM's asset-management profits, wrapped in a small, tightly held stock.
VALU stock price
As of 2026-07-13, Value Line, Inc. (VALU) last closed at $39.95, up 5.7% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $32.00 and $40.75.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Value Line, Inc.'s investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Value Line, Inc. (VALU) do?
Value Line, Inc. is a New York based investment-research firm best known for The Value Line Investment Survey, a long-running publication that assigns proprietary ranks (for timeliness, safety, and more) to thousands of stocks. Its core business produces and sells investment periodicals and their underlying research, and it licenses its copyrights, trademarks, proprietary ranks, and data to third parties such as financial platforms and fund sponsors. This publishing business carries high gross margins (reported around 82%) but grows slowly, as print and legacy research compete with a flood of free and low-cost online alternatives.
The part of Value Line that often surprises new investors is EULAV Asset Management (EAM), a Delaware statutory trust formed in December 2010 when Value Line restructured its asset-management and broker-dealer operations. Value Line no longer runs EAM day to day, but it holds a non-voting revenues interest and a non-voting profits interest in it, so a large share of EAM's fee income flows back to Value Line without Value Line controlling the manager. Because EAM's revenues rise and fall with the assets it manages, this stream is tied to markets. In recent fiscal 2026 quarters that stream grew strongly: for the nine months ended January 31, 2026 Value Line reported net income of approximately $18.1 million, or about $1.92 per share, up roughly 8% year over year, helped by higher EAM receipts and larger investment gains. The stock is small (market cap in the mid hundreds of millions) and majority-controlled by the founding Bernhard interests, which limits its public float and trading liquidity.
What's driving Value Line, Inc. (VALU)?
1. EAM asset-management profits
Value Line's non-voting revenues and profits interests in EAM are the swing factor in its earnings. When markets rise and EAM's managed assets grow, the fee stream flowing back to Value Line grows with them: receipts from EAM rose roughly 20% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 and about 16% across the first half. Because this income is tied to markets rather than to publishing, it can lift results in strong years and fade in weak ones.
2. Legacy research and data licensing
The publishing side (subscriptions to The Value Line Investment Survey and related products, plus licensing of proprietary ranks and data) is a high-margin but slow-growing base. Data-licensing deals, where platforms pay to embed Value Line ranks and content, are a way to monetize the brand beyond individual subscribers. The question is whether this franchise can hold its niche against free and low-cost digital research.
3. Steady, rising dividend and buybacks
Value Line has a long record of raising its dividend, lifting the annualized rate in 2025 in what it described as its eleventh consecutive yearly increase, and it repurchases shares over time. For income-oriented holders, the combination of a mid-single-digit-percentage payout backed by EAM cash and publishing profits is a core part of the story, though capital returns depend on those two streams staying healthy.
4. Small, tightly controlled structure
Value Line is majority-controlled by the founding Bernhard interests, which leaves a limited public float and modest daily trading volume. That structure keeps management stable and long-term oriented, but it also means minority holders have little influence, the shares can be illiquid, and the stock may trade on its own supply and demand dynamics as much as on fundamentals.
What are the risks to Value Line, Inc. (VALU)?
The clearest risk is that Value Line does not control EAM: it holds only non-voting interests, so it depends on a manager it cannot direct, and EAM's fee income falls if its assets under management shrink in a market downturn or through redemptions. The legacy publishing business faces secular pressure from free and low-cost online research, which could erode subscriptions and licensing over time. The stock is small and thinly traded, and it is majority-controlled by insiders, so minority shareholders have limited say and liquidity can be poor. Earnings can also be lumpy because reported results include investment gains and losses on the company's securities portfolio, which vary with markets. Finally, as a niche small-cap, VALU gets little analyst coverage, so information and price discovery can be uneven.
How is Value Line, Inc. (VALU) valued? (approximate, Jul 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Value Line, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (annual): Approximately $34 million to $35 million from publishing and licensing, per recent reporting (EAM fee income is reported separately as a non-operating interest)
- Net income (9 months ended Jan 31, 2026): Approximately $18.1 million, or about $1.92 per share, up roughly 8% year over year
- Gross margin: High, reported around 82% on the publishing business
- EAM contribution: A large, market-sensitive share of profit; EAM receipts rose roughly 20% in Q1 FY2026 and about 16% in the fiscal first half
- Dividend: Rising for many consecutive years; annualized rate lifted in 2025 (recent quarterly rate approximately $0.325), yield in the mid-single-digit-percent range as of the asOf date
- Size and float: Small-cap (market value in the mid hundreds of millions); majority insider-controlled, so limited public float and liquidity
Figures are approximate, drawn from Value Line's fiscal 2026 filings, and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. Two structural quirks make VALU hard to value on a simple multiple: much of its economic value sits in a non-voting claim on EAM rather than in consolidated operating income, and reported profit swings with investment gains on its securities portfolio. Its thin float and insider control also mean the share price can move on liquidity as much as on fundamentals.
Who competes with Value Line, Inc. (VALU)?
Independent research and financial data
Morningstar is the most direct comparison, offering research, ratings, portfolio tools, and a much larger, faster-growing data business. Other independent research and rating names such as Zacks, CFRA, and the research arms of the large rating agencies compete for the same subscribers and licensing dollars, generally with broader digital reach than Value Line's legacy survey.
Consumer investment media and newsletters
The Motley Fool and a wide field of subscription newsletters and financial-media sites compete for individual investors' research spend. These rivals lean on digital distribution and marketing, pressuring a print-rooted publisher like Value Line to keep proving the value of its proprietary ranks and long track record.
Asset managers (via EAM)
Through its EAM interest, Value Line's fortunes are linked to the mutual-fund industry, where the Value Line funds compete against far larger managers and low-cost index and ETF providers. Fee compression and the shift to passive investing across that industry can weigh on EAM's assets and therefore on the income Value Line receives.
How to invest in Value Line, Inc. (VALU)
There are three common ways to get VALU exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so VALU sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where VALU fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
The bottom line on Value Line, Inc. (VALU)
Value Line pairs a mature investment-research publisher with a lucrative non-voting stake in EAM's asset-management profits, funding a steadily rising dividend. It is a small, thinly traded, majority-controlled stock whose upside leans heavily on EAM revenues that Value Line does not directly control.
Build a basket around VALU with Walnut
Use Value Line, Inc. as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
Is VALU a good stock to buy right now?
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That depends on your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance, and this is not investment advice. The bull case is a durable brand, high-margin research and licensing, a long record of dividend increases, and a lucrative non-voting stake in EAM whose fee income has been growing. The bear case is a slow-growing legacy publisher facing free online competition, heavy reliance on an asset manager it does not control, a thin float with insider control, and earnings that swing with investment gains. Weigh both against your own portfolio.
What does Value Line actually do?
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Value Line publishes investment research, most famously The Value Line Investment Survey, which assigns proprietary ranks to thousands of stocks, and it licenses its ranks, data, copyrights, and trademarks to third parties. Separately, it holds non-voting revenues and profits interests in EULAV Asset Management (EAM), the firm that runs the Value Line family of mutual funds, so a large part of its income comes from EAM's fees.
What is EAM and why does it matter so much?
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EULAV Asset Management (EAM) is a Delaware statutory trust formed in 2010 when Value Line restructured its asset-management business. Value Line kept non-voting revenues and profits interests in EAM, so it receives a share of EAM's fee income without running the manager. Because that income tracks the assets EAM manages, it is market-sensitive and has been a major driver of Value Line's recent earnings growth.
Does Value Line pay a dividend?
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Yes. Value Line has paid and steadily raised its dividend for many years, lifting the annualized rate in 2025 in what it called its eleventh consecutive yearly increase, with a recent quarterly rate around $0.325 per share. The yield has been in the mid-single-digit-percent range, though any dividend depends on continued cash from publishing and EAM. Always check the latest declared dividend and yield before assuming a payout.
Why is VALU stock so thinly traded?
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Value Line is majority-controlled by the founding Bernhard interests, which leaves only a limited number of shares in public hands. A small public float means modest daily trading volume, wider spreads at times, and a price that can move on supply and demand as much as on fundamentals. It also means minority shareholders have little influence over corporate decisions.
How is Value Line different from Morningstar?
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Both provide independent investment research covering stocks, funds, and ETFs, but Morningstar is far larger, more digital, and built around a growing data and software business. Value Line is a smaller, more traditional publisher centered on its long-running survey and proprietary ranks, and it derives a large part of its economics from a non-voting stake in an asset manager (EAM) rather than from consolidated operating income.
How can I get exposure to Value Line through an ETF?
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Because VALU is a small-cap, it can appear in broad small-cap, micro-cap, or financial-sector index funds, though usually at a very small weight given its size and thin float. ETF exposure spreads single-stock risk across many holdings but means a Value Line move barely affects you. Always check a fund's holdings and weighting before assuming meaningful exposure to VALU specifically.
What are the main risks of investing in VALU?
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The central risks are its reliance on EAM, an asset manager Value Line does not control and whose fees fall if managed assets shrink; secular pressure on legacy research from free online competition; a thin float and insider control that limit liquidity and minority influence; and lumpy reported earnings that include investment gains on its securities portfolio. Light analyst coverage of the small-cap can also make price discovery uneven.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Value Line, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.