Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

AAP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned 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 Stock Up 6.3%

Shares of NYSE:AAP opened at $49.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.42 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Advance Auto Parts has a fifty-two week low of $28.89 and a fifty-two week high of $64.92.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.81) by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. Advance Auto Parts had a negative net margin of 3.74% and a negative return on equity of 1.76%. The firm’s revenue was down 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Advance Auto Parts will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 11th. Advance Auto Parts’s payout ratio is -17.04%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jason Hand sold 948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $45,996.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $479,183.52. This represents a 8.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Advance Auto Parts

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAP. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 15,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 3,722 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 1,813.9% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 25,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after buying an additional 24,016 shares during the period. Connable Office Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Advance Auto Parts during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 649,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,735,000 after buying an additional 100,445 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 4,942 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.75% of the company’s stock.

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.