Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) Stake Boosted by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 113.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,200 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,030 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Advance Auto Parts were worth $518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Annandale Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. Annandale Capital LLC now owns 109,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,166,000 after acquiring an additional 34,746 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the 4th quarter valued at $8,822,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 305,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,453,000 after purchasing an additional 150,604 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the 4th quarter valued at $34,586,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 649,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,735,000 after purchasing an additional 100,445 shares during the last quarter. 88.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 target price (up previously from $43.00) on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Advance Auto Parts currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.01.

Advance Auto Parts Stock Performance

NYSE AAP opened at $48.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.31, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.49. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.89 and a twelve month high of $67.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 1.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, research 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Advance Auto Parts’s payout ratio is currently -17.04%.

Advance Auto Parts 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.