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

Advantage Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:ADV - Get Free Report) experienced a notable rise in short interest during January. As of January 15th, the total short interest reached 8,390,000 shares, which represents a 13.1% increase from the previous total of 7,420,000 shares reported on December 31st. Currently, approximately 9.5% of the total shares of Advantage Solutions are short sold. Considering the average trading volume of 417,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio stands at 20.1 days.

Advantage Solutions stock opened at $2.64 on a recent Friday. The company's market capitalization is approximately $846.78 million. It has a price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of -6.44 and a beta of 1.55, indicating a moderate correlation with market movements. The debt-to-equity ratio is 1.81, with both the current and quick ratios reported at 1.90. Over the last year, the stock has seen a low of $2.22 and a high of $4.95, with its 50-day and 200-day moving averages at $3.00 and $3.35, respectively.

Recent Earnings Report

Advantage Solutions announced its latest earnings results on November 7th. The reported earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter was ($0.12), which fell short of the consensus estimate of $0.11 by a margin of ($0.23). The company recorded revenues of $939.27 million for this period, slightly exceeding the anticipated total of $935.21 million. Moreover, Advantage Solutions posted a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 3.32%. In the same quarter of the prior year, the firm had an EPS of ($0.07). Analysts project that for the current year, Advantage Solutions will report an EPS of -0.51.

Insider Activity

In other developments, CEO David A. Peacock acquired 16,633 shares of Advantage Solutions on November 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.30 per share, bringing the total transaction value to approximately $54,888.90. After this purchase, Peacock now directly holds 2,352,029 shares in the company, valued at about $7,761,695.70. This acquisition increased his position by 0.71%. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, and it is noted that insiders own about 6.20% of Advantage Solutions' shares.

Institutional Trading Activity

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have made adjustments to their positions in Advantage Solutions. During the third quarter, Barclays PLC increased its stake in the company by 318.7%, acquiring an additional 126,375 shares, bringing its total holdings to 166,024 shares worth around $570,000. Similarly, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings by 116.8%, now owning 323,374 shares valued at $1,109,000 after buying 174,220 shares last quarter. Another notable change came from Empowered Funds LLC, which grew its stake by 13.9% to hold 1,617,758 shares worth $5,549,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its investment significantly, raising its stake by 68.8% with 3,407,224 shares valued at $10,971,000. Lastly, UBS Asset Management Americas LLC expanded its holdings by 23.1% during the quarter, now holding 194,941 shares worth around $669,000. Cumulatively, institutional investors possess about 49.82% of Advantage Solutions' stock.

Company Overview

Advantage Solutions Inc. offers a range of business solutions to consumer goods manufacturers and retailers across North America and internationally. The company operates through two main segments: Sales and Marketing. The Sales segment focuses on brand-centric services including relationship management, analytics, insights, and merchandising services.

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