Stack Financial Management Inc Invests $12.42 Million in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Stack Financial Management Inc acquired a new position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 89,676 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $12,420,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GPC. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,628 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 352 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,467 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,656,000 after buying an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 6,099 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $881,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

GPC traded down $0.93 on Friday, reaching $160.14. The stock had a trading volume of 284,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,059,737. Genuine Parts has a 12-month low of $126.35 and a 12-month high of $174.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $151.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.76. The company has a market cap of $22.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96 and a beta of 0.94.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 30.92%. The company had revenue of $5.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is presently 44.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective (up from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Genuine Parts currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $173.10.

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.