Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) Stock Price Down 6.4% Following Weak Earnings

Advantage Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:ADV) traded down 6.4% during mid-day trading on Friday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as low as $3.50 and last traded at $3.50. 224,597 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 685,876 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.74.

The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $879.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $893.04 million. Advantage Solutions had a negative return on equity of 4.51% and a negative net margin of 1.35%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.15) EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, TheStreet raised 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jack Anthony Pestello purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $3.87 per share, with a total value of $38,700.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 146,279 shares in the company, valued at $566,099.73. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ADV. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management lifted its stake in Advantage Solutions by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Advantage Solutions by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 18,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 6,220 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Advantage Solutions by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 37,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 11,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Advantage Solutions during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

Advantage Solutions Stock Down 5.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.70 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Advantage Solutions Company Profile

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.