Federated Hermes Inc. Has $53.28 Million Stake in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. significantly increased its ownership in Advance Auto Parts by acquiring over 1 million shares, raising its stake by 302.5% to hold a total of 1,358,764 shares worth approximately $53.3 million.
• Advance Auto Parts reported a loss of $0.22 EPS for the last quarter, outperforming expectations, but its revenue dropped 24.2% compared to the same period last year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, reflecting a 1.79% dividend yield, following an ex-dividend date of July 11th.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP - Free Report) by 302.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,358,764 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,021,181 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 2.27% of Advance Auto Parts worth $53,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 189.0% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 711 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 1,258.8% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 2,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 69.8% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,842 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.75% of the company's stock.

Advance Auto Parts Price Performance

AAP stock traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $52.66. The company had a trading volume of 1,908,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,538,775. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.97 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.90. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.89 and a 1-year high of $70.00. 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 analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.81) by $0.59. The business had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was down 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. Advance Auto Parts's payout ratio is -17.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AAP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Advance Auto Parts from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $48.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $47.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Roth Capital set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Advance Auto Parts news, SVP Jason Hand sold 948 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was 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 owned 9,876 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $479,183.52. The trade was a 8.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.