Altfest L J & Co. Inc. Acquires Shares of 6,358 Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Key Points

• Altfest L J & Co. Inc. invested approximately $249,000 in Advance Auto Parts, purchasing 6,358 shares during the first quarter.
• Advance Auto Parts reported a quarterly earnings per share of ($0.22), exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.59, despite a 24.2% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.7%, reflecting a payout ratio of -17.04%.

Altfest L J & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,358 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAP. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $960,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 938,231 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,384,000 after acquiring an additional 108,226 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 122.1% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,015 shares of the company's stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,804 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 517,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,488,000 after purchasing an additional 26,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Advance Auto Parts during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. 88.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Advance Auto Parts news, SVP Jason Hand sold 948 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $45,996.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,876 shares in the company, valued at $479,183.52. The trade was a 8.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on AAP shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Advance Auto Parts from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, June 29th. UBS Group set a $65.00 price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Redburn Partners upgraded Advance Auto Parts from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Three investment 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $49.82.

Advance Auto Parts Price Performance

Shares of AAP stock traded up $1.75 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.86. The company had a trading volume of 748,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,663,351. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.39 and a beta of 1.05. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a one year low of $28.89 and a one year high of $70.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $54.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.46.

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

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. Advance Auto Parts's dividend payout ratio is -17.04%.

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.