The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) Price Target to $43.00

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) had its price target trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $60.00 to $43.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AAP. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Advance Auto Parts from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $68.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 target price (down from $45.00) on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Advance Auto Parts currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.14.

Advance Auto Parts Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AAP opened at $37.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.02 and its 200 day moving average is $54.11. The stock has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.63 and a beta of 1.17. Advance Auto Parts has a 1-year low of $35.59 and a 1-year high of $88.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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). Advance Auto Parts had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 1.82%. 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 prior year, the business posted ($0.82) EPS. Advance Auto Parts’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Advance Auto Parts will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advance Auto Parts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Advance Auto Parts’s dividend payout ratio is 136.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,998,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,268,000 after buying an additional 40,669 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 140.3% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,908,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698,155 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 67.0% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,533,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,522,000 after purchasing an additional 615,674 shares during the last quarter. Third Point LLC bought a new position in Advance Auto Parts during the first quarter valued at approximately $127,234,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 76.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,266,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,197,000 after purchasing an additional 547,696 shares during 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.