Lafayette Investments Inc. Has $6.76 Million Stock Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Lafayette Investments Inc. boosted its position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,835 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the period. Genuine Parts comprises 1.7% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $6,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GPC. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 6.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 19,056 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 14.8% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 9.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 50,928 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,448,000 after acquiring an additional 4,372 shares during the period. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 63.1% during the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 78,951 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,949,000 after acquiring an additional 30,545 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 195.1% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 114,328 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $14,408,000 after acquiring an additional 75,591 shares during the period. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

GPC traded up $1.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $161.28. 377,296 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,017,810. Genuine Parts has a twelve month low of $126.35 and a twelve month high of $174.91. The company has a market cap of $22.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $149.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.22.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 31.64%. The business had revenue of $5.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is an increase from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is 42.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Genuine Parts from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price target (up from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Genuine Parts has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.44.

Insider Transactions at Genuine Parts

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total value of $503,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,397 shares in the company, valued at $2,230,383.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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.