Evercore ISI Raises Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Price Target to $160.00

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) had its price target upped by Evercore ISI from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an in-line rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Genuine Parts from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $167.78.

Genuine Parts Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of GPC stock opened at $154.93 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $21.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.93. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $126.35 and a fifty-two week high of $174.91.

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

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 42.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Genuine Parts

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPC. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Genuine Parts in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 109.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 184 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Genuine Parts in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.