Value Line Premier Growth Fund N-CSRCertified annual shareholder report (management investment company)

On behalf of all of us here at Value Line Funds, I hope this annual report finds you and your family safe and well.

As we continue through these challenging times, know that our long-term commitment to you, our Fund shareholders, remains unchanged. As such, we are pleased to present you with this annual report for Value Line Select Growth Fund, Inc., Value Line Mid Cap Focused Fund, Inc., Value Line Capital Appreciation Fund, Inc., Value Line Larger Companies Focused Fund, Inc. and Value Line Core Bond Fund (individually, a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds”) for the 12 months ended December 31, 2021.

During the annual period, most broad U.S. equity indices generated strong positive absolute returns, while the broad U.S. fixed income market posted a negative absolute return, impacted by a variety of economic and market factors discussed below. Notably, all four equity and hybrid Funds also posted positive absolute returns during the annual period, though each underperformed their respective benchmark index on a relative basis. The annual period was highlighted by several of the Value Line Funds being recognized for their long-term performance and/or attractive risk profiles.

On the following pages, the Funds’ portfolio managers discuss the management of their respective Funds during the annual period. The discussions highlight key factors influencing recent performance of the Funds. You will also find a Schedule of Investments and financial statements for each of the Funds.

Before reviewing the performance of your individual mutual fund investment(s), we encourage you to take a brief look at the major factors affecting the financial markets during the 12 months ended December 31, 2021, especially given the newsworthy events of the annual period. With meaningful trends and developments during 2021 in several drivers of the capital markets, we also invite you to take this time to consider a broader diversification strategy by including additional Value Line Funds in your investment portfolio. You can find out more about the entire family of Value Line Funds at our website, www.vlfunds.com.

During the 12 months ended December 31, 2021, the U.S. economy experienced strong growth, accompanied by rising inflation. Even as new variants of COVID-19, Delta and Omicron, presented challenges, the U.S. economy increasingly opened up, growing at rates not seen in years as a majority of Americans became fully vaccinated and lockdowns virtually ended. U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of 6.3% , 6.7% and 2.3% in the first, second and third quarters of 2021, respectively. Through the first three quarters, then, this was an average GDP growth rate of 5.1%, much stronger than the most recent five-year U.S. GDP average of 2.4%. Real U.S. GDP growth for the fourth calendar quarter is expected to rebound to a strong 6.8%.

The labor market experienced a strong recovery during the annual period from the depths of the early pandemic weakness. Nonfarm payroll gains were healthy, reaching a high point of 1,091,000 in July. Jobless claims, which reached a high of 837,000 in January 2021, dropped to 207,000 at the end of 2021, near their lowest levels since 1969. The U.S. unemployment rate fell from 6.7% to 3.9%. Retail sales rebounded from their pandemic lows and exceeded rates seen prior to the pandemic. Sales were well above average, with the annual rate of gain at 1.55% monthly, significantly higher than the most recent five-year monthly average gain of 0.55%. The month of March 2021 showed an outsized gain of 11.3%. Further, the housing industry was especially robust. As COVID-19 persisted, many people moved out of the cities and purchased homes in the suburbs. New home sales averaged 763,000 per month in 2021, greater than the most recent 10-year average of 554,000 per month.

Manufacturing was the strongest sector during the annual period, reaching heights not seen in decades. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Survey reached a reading of 64.7 in March, the highest reading since 1983. The Survey averaged 60.6 for the annual period, still well above the level widely considered to be a sign of expansion. However, a drawback of the manufacturing strength was the creation of bottlenecks in the global supply chain and shortages of goods, causing massive delays and lengthening of delivery times. Furthermore, transportation bottlenecks caused by a lack of container ships to deliver global goods and a shortage of truck drivers exacerbated the problem. The supply chain was not prepared for the significant increase in demand that resulted from fiscal and monetary stimulus measures, both in the U.S. and globally. Services, the largest sector of the U.S. economy, which had been especially hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, also showed a strong

Perhaps the major concern for the economy during the annual period was the significant rise in inflation. The strong demand for consumer goods and the significant shortages and delays of product deliveries caused prices to increase substantially. The Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation, rose 1.4% year over year in January 2021, but by the end of December had registered a year over year increase of 7.0%, the fastest pace since 1982. The core Consumer Price Index, which excludes food and energy, rose from 1.6% on a year over year basis at the start of the annual period to reach an annualized growth rate of 5.5% in December 2021. Additionally, there were labor shortages, as employers experienced difficulty hiring workers, despite promises of higher wages. Reasons for the labor shortages were not clear. Fear of returning to the office during the pandemic was one explanation. Some conjectured the generous fiscal package had allowed workers to take their time in returning to work. Whatever the reasons, the labor shortage scenario added to the spike in inflation.

U.S. Treasury yields rose during the annual period, and some economists criticized the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) for maintaining monetary policy accommodation rather than increasing its near-zero short-term interest rates in an effort to counteract increasing inflation. However, Fed policymakers, through most of the year, made it clear they believed the increased inflation was “transitory” due to the unusual pent-up demand from the COVID-19 pandemic, causing shortages and lifting prices. They indicated the supply-chain disruptions would ease and consumer spending would decline from its frenzied pace as government stimulus measures ended. Toward the end of the annual period, though, inflation persisted, and the supply-chain disruptions did not ease and even worsened to some degree. Late in 2021, the Fed announced it would begin tapering its quantitative easing program, reducing its purchases of U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, in an effort to reduce stimulus and fight inflation. In addition, the Fed signaled it would likely pivot from its accommodative monetary policy and begin to tighten, raising short-term interest rates in 2022.

U.S. equities, as measured by the S&P 500® Index3, returned 28.71% during the 12 months ended December 31, 2021, near its all-time high and its third consecutive year of double-digit gains.

After a decline in January 2021 on increased COVID-19 cases and fears around new variants, the U.S. equity market was well supported through most of the annual period by a combination of strong economic growth, robust corporate earnings, a gradual rollback of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, an accelerated COVID-19 vaccine rollout, passage of a sweeping $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus package in March and investor confidence the Fed would maintain its highly accommodative monetary policy for an extended period. Concerns about rising inflationary pressures led to a brief stretch of volatility mid-way through the second calendar quarter, though U.S. equities resumed their climb in early June when new jobless claims data showed a decline for the sixth consecutive week. All told, the S&P 500® Index finished June at a then-all-time high. Sentiment deteriorated in September as the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant dampened reopening momentum and the Fed signaled a slowdown of its asset purchases. Supply-chain disruptions and input price pressures also put a strain on the U.S. equity market as did concerns about Chinese real estate developers’ leverage and a spike in energy prices. However, the U.S. equity market then rose strongly, logging its best performing quarter in the fourth quarter of 2021 since the fourth quarter of 2020 on the heels of robust consumer spending, strong corporate earnings results and passage of the U.S. government’s infrastructure plan. The emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 became an area of concern, but such concerns were trumped by more than 80% of the S&P 500® Index constituent companies reporting upside earnings surprises.

Growth stocks modestly outperformed value stocks in the large-cap segment of the U.S. equity market for the annual period ended December 31, 2021, but value stocks significantly outperformed growth stocks in the mid- and small-cap segments during the same time frame. Within the U.S. equity market, large-cap stocks performed best, followed by mid-cap stocks and then small-cap stocks. (All as measured by the FTSE Russell indices.3)

In the S&P 500® Index, all 11 sectors generated positive double-digit absolute total returns during the annual period. Energy, real estate and financials were the best relative performers. Conversely, utilities, consumer staples and industrials were the weakest performing sectors in the S&P 500® Index during the annual period.

The U.S. equity markets outperformed the international equity markets during the annual period. Developed and emerging market equities, as measured by the MSCI EAFE Index3 and MSCI Emerging Markets Index3, respectively, posted annual returns of 11.26% and -2.54%, respectively. International equity markets, similarly to the U.S. equity market, were bolstered by an accelerating global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, a favorable outlook for global economic growth and substantial support from governments and central banks. However, also as in the U.S., several of the largest international markets, including the U.K. and Germany, were facing rising inflation; their central bankers were similarly remaining patient with accommodative short-term policy rates. From a country perspective, Austria was by far the strongest international equity market during the annual period. The U.K., Germany and Japan also posted gains but lagged behind the U.S. market. Conversely, emerging markets equities were impacted most by a strong U.S. dollar and by China. India’s stock market boomed in part due to a new government bond-buying

The broad U.S. investment grade fixed income market, as measured by the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index4, posted a return of  -1.54% during the annual period, significantly underperforming the broad U.S. equity market. Bond prices fell and yields rose across most of the yield curve, or spectrum of maturities, during the annual period. (Remember, there is usually an inverse relationship between bond prices and yield movements, so that bond prices rise when yields decrease and vice versa.)

While U.S. stocks repeatedly hit new highs during the annual period, U.S. Treasuries posted their first negative calendar year since 2013, driven by COVID-19 vaccine rollout progress, unprecedented fiscal stimulus and the Fed’s commitment to not preemptively hike interest rates in response to any transitory rise in inflation during the economic rebound. Further, investors favored bonds with less interest rate risk given the trend upward in yields, which led to worse performance for U.S. Treasuries, which are highly correlated to the direction of interest rates. While signaling a change to come in 2022, the Fed made no changes to its near-zero targeted federal funds rate during the annual period.

For the annual period overall, the yield on the three-month U.S. Treasury bill fell approximately three basis points, while the yield on the two-year U.S. Treasury note increased approximately 60 basis points, and the yield on the five-year U.S. Treasury note rose approximately 90 basis points. (A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.) The yield on the bellwether 10-year U.S. Treasury note increased approximately 59 basis points, and the yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond rose approximately 25 basis points during the annual period. With the exception of the very short-term end of the yield curve, yields on short- to intermediate-term maturities rose more than on longer-term maturities, primarily in response to rising inflationary pressures and strong economic growth, and thus the yield curve flattened5, with the spread, or yield differential, between two-year and 30-year maturities narrowing during the annual period.

Indeed, U.S. Treasuries posted the weakest total returns during the annual period, as investors sought yield in lower quality, higher-risk assets. For similar reasons, investment grade corporate bonds and securitized assets, including mortgage-backed securities, also posted negative absolute returns during the annual period, but each sector still outperformed U.S. Treasuries. Sovereign emerging markets debt also posted negative absolute returns for the annual period but outperformed U.S. Treasuries. Treasury inflation protected securities, however, generated positive absolute returns, outperforming nominal, or non-inflation-linked, U.S. Treasuries overall as well as the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index, given the strong rise in inflationary pressures. The high yield corporate bond, leveraged loan and municipal bond sectors, especially high yield municipal bonds, also posted solid positive returns during the annual period.

Of course, moving forward, we continue to monitor the latest updates related to COVID-19. Just as we remain focused on long-term, strategic investing through all market conditions, we encourage you to do so as well.

We thank you for trusting us to be a part of your long-term, comprehensive investment strategy. We appreciate your confidence in the Value Line Funds and look forward to serving your investment needs in the years ahead just as we have been helping to secure generations’ financial futures since 1950 — based on solid fundamentals, sound investment principles and the power of disciplined and rigorous analytics.

To stay current with timely commentary and investment insights and/or if you would like additional information on these or other Value Line Funds, we invite you to contact your investment representative or visit us at www.vlfunds.com.

The opinions expressed herein are those of EULAV Asset Management and its investment team. The opinions referenced are as of the date of publication and are subject to change due to changes in the market or economic conditions and may not necessarily come to pass. There is no guarantee of the future performance of any Value Line Fund. Nothing herein should be construed as a solicitation, recommendation or an offer to buy, sell or hold any securities, other investments or to adopt any investment strategy or strategies. This information is not intended to serve as investment advice. This material is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast or research.

The Fund’s sole investment objective is long-term growth of capital.

Below, Value Line Select Growth Fund, Inc. portfolio manager Stephen E. Grant discusses the Fund’s performance and positioning for the 12 months ended December 31, 2021.

The Fund’s Investor Class generated a total return of 24.16% during the 12 months ended December 31, 2021. This compares to the 28.71% return of the Fund’s benchmark, the S&P 500® Index, during the same annual period.

The Fund posted double-digit positive absolute returns but underperformed the S&P 500® Index during the 12-month reporting period, driven primarily by stock selection overall. Sector allocation decisions as a whole also detracted, albeit more modestly, during the annual period.

Further, the annual period was one wherein value stocks beat growth stocks within the mid-cap and small-cap segments of the U.S. equity market, ending a four-year streak of growth over value, and large-cap stocks, especially mega-cap stocks, beat mid-cap and small-cap stocks. These factors put the Fund at a relative disadvantage, as the Fund emphasizes growth over value and as the average market capitalizations of its holdings are substantially less than that of the S&P 500® Index.

The Fund was hurt most by stock selection in the information technology sector. To a lesser degree, stock selection in materials also detracted. Further dampening the Fund’s relative results was having an overweight to the industrials sector, which underperformed the S&P 500® Index during the annual period, and having no exposure to energy, which was the strongest sector in the S&P 500® Index during the annual period.

Only partially offsetting these detractors was stock selection in the health care and consumer staples sectors, which contributed positively. Further boosting the Fund’s relative results was having no exposure at all to two of the weakest sectors in the S&P 500® Index during the annual period, namely communication services and utilities.

The most significant detractors from the Fund’s performance were positions in software and technology services firms ANSYS and Fiserv and in payment transactions processing firm Mastercard, each of which significantly lagged the S&P 500® Index during the annual period, hurt by weaker than expected operating performance.

Among the individual stocks that contributed most to the Fund’s relative results were information technology services and consulting firm Accenture, diversified industrial and medical conglomerate Danaher and software and technology services firm Intuit. Each stock enjoyed a robust double-digit gain during the annual period, aided by stronger than expected operating performance.

The Fund did not use derivatives during the reporting period.

During the annual period, we established a new Fund position in medical technology company Stryker, which, in our view, continues to deliver consistent, attractive long-term growth in both earnings and stock price. We also added to the Fund’s positions in Intercontinental Exchange in the financials sector and in Intuit, Adobe and ServiceNow in the information technology sector.

The Fund’s sole investment objective is long-term growth of capital.

Below, Value Line Mid Cap Focused Fund, Inc. portfolio manager Stephen E. Grant discusses the Fund’s performance and positioning for the 12 months ended December 31, 2021.

The Fund’s Investor Class generated a total return of 19.88% during the 12 months ended December 31, 2021. This compares to the 28.71% return of the Fund’s benchmark, the S&P 500® Index, during the same annual period.

The Fund posted double-digit positive absolute returns but underperformed the S&P 500® Index on a relative basis during the 12-month reporting period, driven primarily by stock selection overall. Sector allocation decisions as a whole also detracted, albeit more modestly, during the annual period.

Further, the annual period was one wherein value stocks beat growth stocks within the mid-cap and small-cap segments of the U.S. equity market, ending a four-year streak of growth over value, and large-cap stocks, especially mega-cap stocks, beat mid-and small-cap stocks. These factors put the Fund at a relative disadvantage, as the Fund emphasizes growth over value and as the average market capitalizations of its holdings are substantially less than that of the S&P 500® Index.

The Fund was hurt most by stock selection in the information technology sector. To a lesser degree, stock selection in industrials and materials also detracted. Further dampening the Fund’s relative results was having an overweight to the industrials sector, which underperformed the S&P 500® Index during the annual period, and having no exposure to energy, which was the strongest sector in the S&P 500® Index during the annual period.

Only partially offsetting these detractors was stock selection in the consumer discretionary and financials sectors, which contributed positively. Further boosting the Fund’s relative results was having no exposure at all to two of the weakest sectors in the S&P 500® Index during the annual period, namely communication services and utilities.

During the annual period, the Fund was hurt most by positions in software and technology services firm Fair Isaac, hospice and palliative care services provider Chemed and packaging and containers company AptarGroup. Each of these companies experienced a share price decline during the annual period because of weaker than expected operating performance.

Among the individual stocks that contributed most to the Fund’s relative results were software and technology services firm Gartner, insurance company American Financial Group and swimming pool supplies and equipment distributor Pool. Shares of Gartner enjoyed a triple-digit percentage gain during the annual period, and American Financial Group and Pool each experienced robust double-digit percentage share price increases during the annual period, in each case because of stronger than expected operating performance.

The Fund did not use derivatives during the reporting period.

This focused Fund ended the annual period with 29 holdings in its portfolio as compared to 30 at the start of the calendar year. No new positions were added during the annual period. We eliminated from the Fund’s portfolio a position in Carlisle Companies, which manufactures and distributes construction materials, transportation products and general industry products. We sold the position because we believed Carlisle Companies was no longer generating the consistent long-term growth we seek.

Contributing most to the equity portion of the Fund’s relative results were positions in biopharmaceutical company Biohaven Pharmaceutical, oil and gas exploration and production company Diamondback Energy and investment company Blackstone.

Biohaven Pharmaceuticals’ shares saw a double-digit gain during the annual period, with its strong performance driven largely by the ongoing success of the launch of its migraine drug Nurtec. The company preannounced better than consensus expected Nurtec sales in every quarter during the annual period. Diamondback Energy’s shares soared during the annual period with a triple-digit gain. The company’s strong performance was fueled by higher oil and gas prices and by favorable year-over-year results comparisons following 2020’s steep decline for the company’s shares. Shares of Blackstone also enjoyed a triple-digit gain during the annual period on success in growing its capital strategies and on its growth both organically and via mergers and acquisitions.

During the annual period, we established a position in Delta Airlines, which, in our view, has some of the best financials in the airline industry and is well positioned to benefit from travel recovery. We also initiated a position in financial services institution Citigroup, which we believe is likely to benefit should several interest rate increases materialize in the coming year. We established a position in Tesla, the global leader in the rapidly growing electric vehicle market, during the annual period as well. In our view, electric vehicles are likely to replace internal combustion engine vehicles entirely over the long term. We believe Tesla is well positioned to benefit from this secular driver and to continue expanding its scale.

Conversely, we sold the equity portion of the Fund’s positions in Zendesk, a software development company; Tencent Holdings, a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate; and Edwards Lifesciences, which designs, develops and markets products and services for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The sale of Zendesk was driven by the company’s deteriorating fundamentals and by what we saw as its relatively less attractive valuation. We exited Tencent Holdings prompted by what we viewed as increasing macro risks and decreasing visibility, especially given heightened regulatory scrutiny in China. We exited the equity portion of the Fund’s position in Edwards Lifesciences given our view of the company’s relatively less attractive risk/reward profile, including weakening fundamentals and a less compelling valuation.

During the annual period, the equity portion of the Fund’s allocation to the financials, energy and industrials sectors increased and its exposures to the health care, information technology and consumer staples sectors decreased relative to the S&P 500® Index.

As of December 31, 2021, the Fund was overweight relative to the S&P 500® Index in the health care, information technology, consumer discretionary, communication services and energy sectors. The Fund was underweight relative to the S&P 500® Index in the industrials, real estate and consumer staples sectors on the same date. The Fund was rather neutrally weighted to the financials sector relative to the S&P 500® Index and had no exposure to the materials and utilities sectors at the end of December 2021.

Duration positioning in the fixed income portion of the Fund contributed positively to its relative performance, as the fixed income portion of the Fund generally held a duration stance shorter than that of the Bloomberg Index during the annual period based on our expectations for higher interest rates. As rates did rise across most of the yield curve during the annual period in response to greater inflationary pressures and strong economic growth, the fixed income portion of the Fund’s short duration positioning added value. Duration is a measure of the Fund’s sensitivity to changes in interest rates.

However, yield curve positioning overall detracted from the fixed income portion of the Fund’s relative performance during the annual period. The fixed income portion of the Fund was positioned with an emphasis on the intermediate segment of the yield curve, where rates rose most substantially, and it would have proved more beneficial had the fixed income portion of the Fund held more of a barbell positioning along the U.S. Treasury yield curve, with greater weightings in short-term and long-term maturities.

During the annual period, the fixed income portion of the Fund maintained a “risk on”* bias, with a significantly overweighted allocation to investment grade corporate bonds relative to the Bloomberg Index and a modest exposure to high yield corporate bonds, which are not a component of the Bloomberg Index. Such positioning proved beneficial, as both of these sectors outperformed the Bloomberg Index during the annual period. Having a notably underweighted allocation to U.S. Treasuries, which was the weakest sector in the Bloomberg Index during the annual period, also contributed positively. Issue selection within corporate credit helped, as the fixed income portion of the Fund had a focus on bonds rated BBB, which outperformed higher-rated corporate bonds during the annual period. Conversely, having an overweighted allocation to commercial mortgage-backed securities detracted, as this sector underperformed the Bloomberg Index during the annual period. Issue selection in the securitized sector also dampened the fixed income portion of the Fund’s relative results.

During the annual period, we modestly reduced the fixed income portion of the Fund’s exposure to investment grade corporate bonds, with most of the proceeds allocated to mortgage-backed securities. We implemented this shift based on our expectations for several interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) in 2022 and on our analysis that mortgage-backed securities tend to perform better than U.S. Treasuries and corporate bonds during a period of rising rates. We also reduced the fixed income portion of the Fund’s exposure to the intermediate segment of the yield curve, as conditions that caused this area to underperform, such as inflation, rising rates and a hawkish Fed, were likely, in our view, to persist in 2022. (Hawkish tends to suggest higher interest rates; opposite of dovish.)

At the end of December 2021, the fixed income portion of the Fund remained overweight relative to the Bloomberg Index in investment grade corporate bonds and remained underweight relative to the Bloomberg Index in U.S. Treasuries. The fixed income portion of the Fund had a rather neutral exposure to the securitized sector overall.

At December 31, 2021, the Fund had a weighting of approximately 83% in stocks, 11% in fixed income securities and 6% in cash equivalents. This compared to approximately 82% in stocks, 14% in fixed income securities and 4% in cash equivalents at the start of the annual period. Much of the asset allocation shifts during the annual period was due to the market appreciation of equities.

Neither the equity portion nor the fixed income portion of the Fund used derivatives during the reporting period.

During the annual period, we generally saw better than consensus expected sales and corporate earnings reports. While new government policies may benefit some value and cyclical stocks in the months ahead, we believe strong growth companies are likely to remain resilient and attractive over the long term. Thus, at the end of the annual period, we felt the equity portion of the Fund was well positioned to thrive over the longer term, as it generally owns companies that tend to have market-leading positions and compete in industries with high barriers to entry. Often, these companies also have secular growth drivers due to their in-demand products and services. We intend to continue to seek companies for the equity portion of the Fund’s portfolio that are positioned to grow both their sales and earnings at a pace above the market and their peers.

We also intend to closely monitor the pace of U.S. and global economic growth, any shifts in the Fed’s outlook, any marked change in the path of the COVID-19 pandemic and any notable movements in either inflation or labor market conditions, as these factors are likely, in our view, to affect the Fund’s equity and fixed income holdings.