Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) Shares Gap Down to $4.26

Shares of Advantage Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:ADV) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $4.26, but opened at $3.23. Advantage Solutions shares last traded at $3.19, with a volume of 296,403 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, TheStreet upgraded Advantage Solutions from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3.43.

Advantage Solutions Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.30 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Advantage Solutions had a negative return on equity of 4.51% and a negative net margin of 1.35%. Equities research analysts expect that Advantage Solutions Inc. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jack Anthony Pestello acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.87 per share, with a total value of $38,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 146,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,099.73. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swiss National Bank bought a new position in shares of Advantage Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $607,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Advantage Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,070,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Advantage Solutions by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,228,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,369,000 after purchasing an additional 205,992 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Advantage Solutions by 546.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 678,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,926,000 after purchasing an additional 573,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Advantage Solutions by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 49,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 10,103 shares during the period. 49.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Advantage Solutions

Advantage Solutions Inc provides business solutions to consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in North America and internationally. It operates in two segments, Sales and Marketing. The Sales segment offers brand-centric services, such as headquarter relationship management; analytics, insights, and intelligence; and brand-centric merchandising services.