GAMMA Investing LLC Has $74,000 Stake in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 198.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,575 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Advance Auto Parts were worth $74,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 207.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 541 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Advance Auto Parts during the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted 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 last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake 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 worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank acquired a new position in shares of Advance Auto Parts during the 3rd quarter valued at about $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Advance Auto Parts from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Advance Auto Parts

In other news, EVP Tammy M. Finley sold 1,276 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,159.96. This represents a 5.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Advance Auto Parts Stock Performance

AAP opened at $46.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of 63.47 and a beta of 1.16. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.59 and a 1 year high of $88.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.82) earnings per share. Advance Auto Parts’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Advance Auto Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 136.99%.

Advance Auto Parts 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.