Zacks Research Upgrades Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) to “Hold”

Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Advantage Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Advantage Solutions in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Advantage Solutions from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.00.

Advantage Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ADV opened at $27.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.98. Advantage Solutions has a 1-year low of $12.23 and a 1-year high of $47.45. The company has a market cap of $349.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.28 and a beta of 2.18.

Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($4.85) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by ($4.42). Advantage Solutions had a negative net margin of 7.65% and a negative return on equity of 48.15%. The firm had revenue of $757.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $887.30 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Advantage Solutions will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Advantage Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CastleKnight Management LP grew its position in Advantage Solutions by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. CastleKnight Management LP now owns 11,794,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,380,000 after buying an additional 1,806,891 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp acquired a new position in Advantage Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,913,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Advantage Solutions by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Advantage Solutions in the second quarter valued at about $456,000. 49.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Advantage Solutions

Advantage Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: ADV) is a provider of outsourced sales and marketing services for consumer goods manufacturers, retailers and other brands. The company helps clients plan and execute strategies intended to improve brand visibility, customer engagement and sales across retail and digital channels.

Its services include retail merchandising, sales management, brand and shopper marketing, experiential marketing, digital commerce, business analytics and media services. Advantage Solutions works with clients across categories such as food and beverage, household products, health and wellness, beauty and personal care, and consumer technology.

The company serves businesses primarily across North America through a network of field representatives, marketing professionals and specialized service teams.