KBC Group NV Buys 394 Shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

KBC Group NV boosted its position in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 29.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,749 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Advance Auto Parts were worth $68,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dorsal Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 159.7% during the second quarter. Dorsal Capital Management LP now owns 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,162,000 after acquiring an additional 768,664 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Advance Auto Parts by 76.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,266,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,197,000 after purchasing an additional 547,696 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Advance Auto Parts during the 3rd quarter valued at $17,477,000. Clearline Capital LP raised its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 115.4% during the second quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 405,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,683,000 after buying an additional 217,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the second quarter valued at $7,916,000. 88.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAP shares. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Advance Auto Parts from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Advance Auto Parts from $50.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.64.

Advance Auto Parts Stock Performance

Shares of AAP stock opened at $40.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.88 and a beta of 1.17. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.59 and a 52 week high of $88.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.16.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.82) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Advance Auto Parts’s payout ratio is 136.99%.

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.