HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 127,872 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 22,585 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $14,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 796.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 66,290 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,740,000 after buying an additional 58,894 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its position in Genuine Parts by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 16,190 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,890,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Genuine Parts by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,217 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in Genuine Parts by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 230,193 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,877,000 after purchasing an additional 47,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morton Community Bank increased its position in Genuine Parts by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Morton Community Bank now owns 23,366 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,728,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

GPC opened at $122.16 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.42. The firm has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 0.93. Genuine Parts has a twelve month low of $112.74 and a twelve month high of $164.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 25.28%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on GPC. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.63.

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.