Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $66.50, but opened at $70.00. Advance Auto Parts shares last traded at $64.46, with a volume of 1,408,436 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AAP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Advance Auto Parts from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Redburn Partners upgraded Advance Auto Parts from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. DA Davidson raised their target price on Advance Auto Parts from $47.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Advance Auto Parts from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Advance Auto Parts presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.53.

Advance Auto Parts Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.00 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.57. 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 (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 the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. Advance Auto Parts's revenue was down 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. Advance Auto Parts's dividend payout ratio is currently -17.04%.

Insider Transactions at Advance Auto Parts

In related news, SVP Jason Hand sold 948 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total value of $45,996.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $479,183.52. This represents a 8.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Advance Auto Parts

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 1.8% in the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 26,470 shares of the company's stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 1.9% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,394,964 shares of the company's stock worth $204,322,000 after purchasing an additional 82,456 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 15.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,278 shares of the company's stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Advance Auto Parts in the second quarter worth $371,000. Finally, Gainplan LLC bought a new stake in Advance Auto Parts in the second quarter worth $700,000. 88.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Advance Auto Parts

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.