Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) Price Target Increased to $73.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) had its target price hoisted by Evercore ISI from $72.00 to $73.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $78.00 to $64.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Advance Auto Parts from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a neutral rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $64.00.

Advance Auto Parts Stock Up 2.9 %

NYSE:AAP opened at $66.16 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $70.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.97. Advance Auto Parts has a 52-week low of $47.73 and a 52-week high of $88.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.20.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.02). Advance Auto Parts had a return on equity of 1.59% and a net margin of 0.37%. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Advance Auto Parts will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 12th. Advance Auto Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Brent Windom bought 4,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $85.34 per share, for a total transaction of $401,098.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $853,400. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Advance Auto Parts

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 22,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 28.0% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 895 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. 88.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.