Praxis Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Stake in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Praxis Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,685,541 shares of the company's stock worth $316,160,000 after buying an additional 1,706,328 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,449,554 shares of the company's stock worth $163,129,000 after acquiring an additional 347,587 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,270,897 shares of the company's stock worth $154,681,000 after acquiring an additional 362,239 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,728,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,016,000 after purchasing an additional 297,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $87,214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.75% of the company's stock.

Advance Auto Parts Trading Down 0.9%

AAP stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $46.26. The stock had a trading volume of 2,570,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,514,629. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.88 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.77. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.89 and a 1-year high of $64.92.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 return on equity of 1.76% and a negative net margin of 3.74%. The company had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 11th. Advance Auto Parts's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -17.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jason Hand sold 948 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was 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 now directly owns 9,876 shares in the company, valued at $479,183.52. This trade represents a 8.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Redburn Partners raised Advance Auto Parts from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Advance Auto Parts from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Advance Auto Parts currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.25.

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.