Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) released its earnings results on Thursday. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.07, RTT News reports. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 30.92%. The business had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Genuine Parts updated its FY 2024 guidance to 9.800-9.950 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $9.80-9.90 EPS.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Genuine Parts stock opened at $162.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.10 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $150.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Genuine Parts has a 1 year low of $126.35 and a 1 year high of $174.91.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.59%.

Insider Activity at Genuine Parts

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total value of $503,490.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,230,383.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Genuine Parts

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Genuine Parts by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,088,101 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,153,442,000 after buying an additional 481,039 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Genuine Parts by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,189,643 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,209,476,000 after buying an additional 171,000 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Genuine Parts by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,860,574 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $612,531,000 after buying an additional 185,529 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Genuine Parts by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,977,671 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $497,089,000 after buying an additional 36,774 shares during the period. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Genuine Parts by 16,507.5% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,611,194 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $261,119,000 after buying an additional 2,595,471 shares during the period. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price target (up previously from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.10.

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.