Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) Rating Lowered to Underperform at Bank of America

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) was downgraded by research analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $43.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $60.00. Bank of America‘s price objective indicates a potential downside of 14.56% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com began coverage on Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $84.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.80.

Advance Auto Parts Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AAP opened at $50.33 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.47. Advance Auto Parts has a 1-year low of $47.73 and a 1-year high of $158.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.14.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 15th. The company reported ($0.82) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($2.26). Advance Auto Parts had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.65%. The firm had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Advance Auto Parts will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Advance Auto Parts

In other news, Director Eugene I. Lee, Jr. bought 8,670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $57.65 per share, with a total value of $499,825.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,120,139.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Advance Auto Parts

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Advance Auto Parts by 3.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,970,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,442,611,000 after buying an additional 261,715 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,435,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,799,000 after acquiring an additional 376,025 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Advance Auto Parts by 28.2% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,431,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,340,000 after purchasing an additional 754,027 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,313,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,801,000 after purchasing an additional 114,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 2,226.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,026,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,939,560 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.75% of the company’s stock.

About Advance Auto Parts

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.