Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Advantage Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:ADV)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $2.87, but opened at $3.08. Advantage Solutions shares last traded at $3.02, with a volume of 99,420 shares traded.

Specifically, CEO David A. Peacock acquired 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.79 per share, with a total value of $111,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,320,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,473,904.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, TheStreet raised Advantage Solutions from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Advantage Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3.43.

Advantage Solutions Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $3.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $976.21 million, a P/E ratio of -40.99 and a beta of 1.50.

Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $879.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $893.04 million. Advantage Solutions had a negative net margin of 0.36% and a negative return on equity of 5.26%. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.15) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Advantage Solutions Inc. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Advantage Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Advantage Solutions by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 4,584 shares during the last quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management boosted its holdings in Advantage Solutions by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Advantage Solutions by 49.8% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 18,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 6,220 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Advantage Solutions in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Advantage Solutions by 25.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 49,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 10,103 shares during the period. 49.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Advantage Solutions

Advantage Solutions Inc provides business solutions to consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in North America and internationally. It operates in two segments, Sales and Marketing. The Sales segment offers brand-centric services, such as headquarter relationship management; analytics, insights, and intelligence; and brand-centric merchandising services.