Advantage Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:ADV) Short Interest Update

Advantage Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:ADV) experienced a notable rise in short interest during January. As of January 15th, the short interest totaled 8,390,000 shares, marking a 13.1% increase from the previous total of 7,420,000 shares on December 31st. This amount represents approximately 9.5% of the company’s total shares being sold short. With an average trading volume of 417,200 shares, the current days-to-cover ratio stands at 20.1 days.

Advantage Solutions Stock Performance

On Friday, shares of ADV opened at $2.64. The company has a market capitalization of $846.78 million and a price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of -6.44. It also has a beta of 1.55, a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, and both the current and quick ratios are at 1.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3.00 and a 200-day moving average of $3.35. Over the past year, Advantage Solutions has seen a low of $2.22 and a high of $4.95.

Earnings Results

Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) reported its earnings on November 7th. The company posted an earnings per share (EPS) of ($0.12), falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.23). Revenue for the quarter was $939.27 million, slightly exceeding the expected $935.21 million. It also reported a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of -3.32%. In the corresponding period last year, the EPS was ($0.07). Analysts predict that Advantage Solutions will report an EPS of -0.51 for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other recent developments, CEO David A. Peacock purchased 16,633 shares of his company’s stock on November 11th at an average price of $3.30 per share, amounting to a total of $54,888.90. Following this acquisition, he now owns 2,352,029 shares in Advantage Solutions, valued at approximately $7,761,695.70, marking a 0.71% increase in his holdings. This transaction was reported in a legal filing with the SEC, and insiders control about 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Advantage Solutions

Recent changes by hedge funds and other institutional investors have been significant. For instance, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Advantage Solutions by 318.7% during the third quarter, now holding 166,024 shares worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 126,375 shares. Additionally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake by 116.8%, bringing its total to 323,374 shares valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing 174,220 shares. Empowered Funds LLC also increased its holdings by 13.9%, now at 1,617,758 shares valued at $5,549,000. Furthermore, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake by 68.8%, owning 3,407,224 shares now worth $10,971,000. UBS Asset Management also increased its holdings by 23.1%, resulting in ownership of 194,941 shares valued at $669,000. Overall, institutional investors own about 49.82% of Advantage Solutions stock.

Company Overview

Advantage Solutions Inc. provides business solutions to consumer goods manufacturers and retailers, both in North America and internationally. The company operates through two main segments: Sales and Marketing, with the Sales segment offering various services including brand-centric management, analytics, insights, and merchandising.

Final Considerations

Given the growing short interest and changing institutional investments, the market will closely watch Advantage Solutions in the coming months. Investors need to weigh all aspects, including recent earnings performance and insider activity, before making decisions regarding their portfolios.

Advantage, Stocks, Trading