Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) Receives $48.40 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.40.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAP. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Advance Auto Parts in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $60.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th.

Advance Auto Parts Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE AAP opened at $48.14 on Friday. Advance Auto Parts has a 12 month low of $35.59 and a 12 month high of $88.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 65.95 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.89 and its 200 day moving average is $48.12.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.53). The company had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.62 billion. Advance Auto Parts had a return on equity of 1.82% and a net margin of 0.41%. Advance Auto Parts’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.82) EPS. Research analysts predict that Advance Auto Parts will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Advance Auto Parts’s payout ratio is 136.99%.

Insider Activity

In other Advance Auto Parts news, EVP Tammy M. Finley sold 1,276 shares of Advance Auto Parts stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $56,220.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,159.96. The trade was a 5.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Advance Auto Parts

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAP. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 442,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,044,000 after purchasing an additional 9,425 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in Advance Auto Parts during the second quarter worth $336,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Advance Auto Parts by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $831,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 57.1% in the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 6,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 2,480 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 60.3% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 118,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,477,000 after acquiring an additional 44,408 shares in the last quarter. 88.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.