Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) Stock Price Up 5.6% – What’s Next?

Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) was up 5.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $51.83 and last traded at $52.39. Approximately 1,032,111 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 2,631,419 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAP. 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 report on Friday, May 23rd. 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 research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.90.

Advance Auto Parts Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 71.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.53.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.81) by $0.59. The business had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. Advance Auto Parts had a return on equity of 1.82% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 11th. Advance Auto Parts’s dividend payout ratio is presently -17.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Shane M. Okelly bought 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $36.79 per share, with a total value of $55,185.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 183,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,737,021.59. This trade represents a 0.83% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Eugene I. Lee, Jr. bought 14,640 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $34.15 per share, for a total transaction of $499,956.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,163,490.50. The trade was a 75.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Advance Auto Parts

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eminence Capital LP acquired a new position in Advance Auto Parts during the 4th quarter worth $87,214,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Advance Auto Parts by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,685,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,160,000 after buying an additional 1,706,328 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,055,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 2,585.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,353,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,026,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Advance Auto Parts by 2,662.0% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,293,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,384 shares during the last quarter. 88.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.