Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on GPC. Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $167.78.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Genuine Parts stock opened at $154.93 on Tuesday. Genuine Parts has a 12-month low of $126.35 and a 12-month high of $174.91. The company has a market capitalization of $21.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $147.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.93.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $5.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 31.64%. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is presently 42.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Genuine Parts

In other Genuine Parts news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total transaction of $503,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPC. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 41,734 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,026,000 after acquiring an additional 4,047 shares during the period. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,593,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 141,483 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,427,000 after acquiring an additional 18,522 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,344,846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,249,779,000 after acquiring an additional 155,203 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 507.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 10,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,560,000 after acquiring an additional 9,029 shares during the period. 78.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.