Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Given “Buy” Rating at Truist Financial

Truist Financial reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a $167.00 price objective on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on GPC. StockNews.com upgraded Genuine Parts from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Friday, February 16th. 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 MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $168.89.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Shares of Genuine Parts stock opened at $144.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Genuine Parts has a 12 month low of $126.35 and a 12 month high of $174.91.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty retailer reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 31.64% and a net margin of 5.70%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 9.76 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. This is a boost 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 42.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,230,383.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Genuine Parts

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,088,101 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,153,442,000 after purchasing an additional 481,039 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,189,643 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,209,476,000 after purchasing an additional 171,000 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 4.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 185,529 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,977,671 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $497,089,000 after purchasing an additional 36,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 16,507.5% in the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,611,194 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $261,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,595,471 shares during the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.