Versant Capital Management Inc Purchases 365 Shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 207.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 541 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Advance Auto Parts were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 140.3% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,908,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,155 shares in the last quarter. Dorsal Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 159.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dorsal Capital Management LP now owns 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,162,000 after buying an additional 768,664 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 76.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,266,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,197,000 after buying an additional 547,696 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Advance Auto Parts during the 3rd quarter valued at $17,477,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts during the third quarter worth $14,684,000. 88.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Roth Capital upgraded Advance Auto Parts to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased 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 report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.73.

Advance Auto Parts Trading Down 3.6 %

AAP stock opened at $46.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 63.11 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.34. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a one year low of $35.59 and a one year high of $88.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.50.

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

Advance Auto Parts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Advance Auto Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 136.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Advance Auto Parts

In other news, EVP Tammy M. Finley sold 1,276 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $56,220.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,159.96. This represents a 5.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.35% 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.