Short Interest in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) Declines By 19.7%

Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,590,000 shares, a drop of 19.7% from the November 15th total of 10,700,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 14.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Tammy M. Finley sold 1,276 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $56,220.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,159.96. This trade 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 link. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Advance Auto Parts

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAP. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Advance Auto Parts in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 56.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the second quarter valued at about $63,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Finally, City State Bank acquired a new position in Advance Auto Parts during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Advance Auto Parts from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (down previously from $45.00) on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $60.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Advance Auto Parts from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.40.

Advance Auto Parts Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of AAP traded down $0.18 on Friday, hitting $43.86. 1,420,341 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,081,879. Advance Auto Parts has a 1 year low of $35.59 and a 1 year high of $88.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.08 and a beta of 1.21. 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 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). Advance Auto Parts had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 1.82%. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.82) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Advance Auto Parts will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Advance Auto Parts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 136.99%.

Advance Auto Parts Company 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.