Advisors Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 62,881 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,355 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $7,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPC. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Genuine Parts in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.63.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE GPC opened at $123.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16 and a beta of 0.93. Genuine Parts has a fifty-two week low of $112.74 and a fifty-two week high of $164.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its quarterly 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 company 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 firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is presently 63.68%.

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.