Qsemble Capital Management LP Acquires 50,245 Shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 1,244.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,281 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,245 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in Advance Auto Parts were worth $2,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAP. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 1,241.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 644 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the second quarter worth about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Advance Auto Parts in the 2nd quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 29.1% during the third 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 last quarter. 88.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAP. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $50.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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 note on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Advance Auto Parts from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Roth Capital upgraded Advance Auto Parts to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Advance Auto Parts from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.64.

Advance Auto Parts Trading Up 6.5 %

AAP stock opened at $43.43 on Tuesday. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.59 and a 12 month high of $88.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.02 and its 200 day moving average is $52.86. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 59.49 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.82) earnings per share. Advance Auto Parts’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.51 EPS for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Advance Auto Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.