Wall Street Zen Upgrades Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) to Hold

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

AAP has been the subject of several other research reports. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $48.00 price target (up previously from $43.00) on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.25.

Advance Auto Parts Trading Down 7.0%

Advance Auto Parts stock traded down $3.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $48.29. The company had a trading volume of 5,998,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,498,476. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Advance Auto Parts has a 12-month low of $28.89 and a 12-month high of $66.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.23 and a beta of 1.06.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.81) by $0.59. Advance Auto Parts had a negative net margin of 3.74% and a negative return on equity of 1.76%. The company had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Advance Auto Parts will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 11th. Advance Auto Parts's dividend payout ratio is currently -17.04%.

Insider Activity at Advance Auto Parts

In other news, SVP Jason Hand sold 948 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $45,996.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,876 shares of the company's stock, valued at $479,183.52. This represents a 8.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Advance Auto Parts

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Annandale Capital LLC raised its position in Advance Auto Parts by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Annandale Capital LLC now owns 109,241 shares of the company's stock worth $5,166,000 after acquiring an additional 34,746 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Advance Auto Parts in the 4th quarter worth $8,822,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Advance Auto Parts by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 305,622 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,453,000 after purchasing an additional 150,604 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in Advance Auto Parts during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,586,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Advance Auto Parts by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 649,919 shares of the company's stock worth $30,735,000 after buying an additional 100,445 shares in the last quarter. 88.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Advance Auto Parts Company Profile

Advance Auto Parts, Inc provides automotive replacement parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items for domestic and imported cars, vans, sport utility vehicles, and light and heavy duty trucks. The company offers battery accessories; belts and hoses; brakes and brake pads; chassis and climate control parts; clutches and drive shafts; engines and engine parts; exhaust systems and parts; hub assemblies; ignition components and wires; radiators and cooling parts; starters and alternators; and steering and alignment parts.