Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Short Interest Up 20.4% in February

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,440,000 shares, a growth of 20.4% from the February 13th total of 4,520,000 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,460,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Institutional Trading of Genuine Parts

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,311 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,580,000 after buying an additional 4,809 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter worth $540,000. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 104,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,198,000 after buying an additional 9,199 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter worth $21,840,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 23.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 303,676 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $42,417,000 after purchasing an additional 56,776 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Genuine Parts stock traded up $0.75 on Wednesday, reaching $124.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,333,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,136,607. The company has a market capitalization of $17.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $120.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.03. Genuine Parts has a 52 week low of $112.74 and a 52 week high of $164.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 25.28% and a net margin of 3.85%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GPC. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital started coverage on Genuine Parts in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Genuine Parts presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.63.

About Genuine Parts

Genuine Parts Company distributes automotive replacement parts, and industrial parts and materials. It operates in two segments: Automotive Parts Group and Industrial Parts Group segments. The company distributes automotive replacement parts for hybrid and electric vehicles, trucks, SUVs, buses, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, farm vehicles, small engines, farm equipment, marine equipment, and heavy duty equipment; and equipment and parts used by repair shops, service stations, fleet operators, automobile and truck dealers, leasing companies, bus and truck lines, mass merchandisers, farms, and individuals.