Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Increases Position in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP - Free Report) by 26.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,639 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,100 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.06% of Advance Auto Parts worth $1,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAP. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Advance Auto Parts in the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Investors Research Corp raised its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 7.1% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,625 shares of the company's stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 12,026.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 190,992 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,489,000 after buying an additional 189,417 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its position in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 26,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,044,000 after buying an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 3,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.75% of the company's stock.

Advance Auto Parts Trading Down 4.7%

NYSE AAP traded down $2.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $48.41. 2,127,383 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,480,639. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 66.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.47. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.89 and a 52 week high of $67.03.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 1.82% and a net margin of 0.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Advance Auto Parts's dividend payout ratio is currently -17.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAP. Citigroup lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company set a $35.00 target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $48.00 price target (up from $43.00) on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Roth Capital set a $50.00 price objective on Advance Auto Parts and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.01.

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.