Clearline Capital LP Acquires 39,699 Shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Clearline Capital LP lifted its stake in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 445,244 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 39,699 shares during the period. Advance Auto Parts makes up approximately 0.7% of Clearline Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Clearline Capital LP owned about 0.75% of Advance Auto Parts worth $17,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAP. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Advance Auto Parts during the first quarter worth $487,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 60.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 1,241.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAP. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Advance Auto Parts from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $50.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Advance Auto Parts to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.64.

Advance Auto Parts Stock Performance

Shares of AAP opened at $41.35 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.73. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.59 and a 12 month high of $88.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.64 and a beta of 1.17.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.53). The business had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. Advance Auto Parts had a return on equity of 1.82% and a net margin of 0.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.82) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.51 EPS for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. 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.