Franklin Resources Inc. Has $28.57 Million Stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 244,643 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,707 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $28,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter valued at about $206,645,000. Equity Investment Corp acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,128,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,407,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 5.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,844,189 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,103,300,000 after purchasing an additional 401,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 95.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 391,670 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $54,708,000 after purchasing an additional 191,272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GPC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $114.00 price target (down from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Genuine Parts in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Northcoast Research cut Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI upgraded Genuine Parts from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $128.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.88.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 1.6 %

GPC stock opened at $116.80 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.45. Genuine Parts has a 1-year low of $112.74 and a 1-year high of $164.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05 and a beta of 0.82. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is currently 63.68%.

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.