Ellsworth Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 29,902 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,141,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GPC. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Genuine Parts in the third quarter worth $25,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 122.2% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Genuine Parts in the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on GPC. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Genuine Parts presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Genuine Parts

In other Genuine Parts news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of Genuine Parts stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total transaction of $503,490.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,230,383.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Trading Down 0.2 %

GPC traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $154.93. The company had a trading volume of 954,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,016,001. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.89. The company has a market cap of $21.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.94. Genuine Parts has a 12-month low of $126.35 and a 12-month high of $174.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty retailer reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.06. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 31.64% and a net margin of 5.70%. The company had revenue of $5.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 29th. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is 42.87%.

Genuine Parts Company Profile

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.