Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

ADV has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Advantage Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Advantage Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $0.75 price target on Advantage Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Advantage Solutions from $2.50 to $1.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $1.13.

Advantage Solutions Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ADV opened at $0.74 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $0.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.11. Advantage Solutions has a 1-year low of $0.49 and a 1-year high of $2.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.44 million, a P/E ratio of -1.06 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25.

Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.60). Advantage Solutions had a negative return on equity of 34.48% and a negative net margin of 6.43%.The company had revenue of $932.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $885.20 million. Equities research analysts expect that Advantage Solutions will post -0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ADV. CastleKnight Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Advantage Solutions by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. CastleKnight Management LP now owns 11,794,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,891 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Advantage Solutions by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,761,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,310,000 after buying an additional 1,024,633 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Advantage Solutions by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,763,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,432,000 after acquiring an additional 21,509 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Advantage Solutions by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,675,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,094,000 after acquiring an additional 773,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Advantage Solutions by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,180,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,919,000 after acquiring an additional 88,129 shares during the period. 49.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Advantage Solutions Company Profile

Advantage Solutions is a leading sales and marketing agency that provides outsourced solutions to consumer packaged goods companies. The firm’s offerings include field sales execution, retail merchandising, in-store and shopper marketing, e-commerce activation and data-driven analytics. By deploying dedicated sales teams alongside proprietary technology, Advantage Solutions helps brands optimize shelf placement, ensure compliance with promotional programs and strengthen consumer engagement.

The company’s service portfolio spans field sales and marketing, retail execution, brand ambassador programs, digital and experiential promotions, and shopper insights.