ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,954 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 91 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $3,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 36.1% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 249 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 8.5% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 890 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 3.6% in the first quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 2,042 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Genuine Parts by 4.9% in the second quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,616 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Genuine Parts by 1.8% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 4,437 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on GPC shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $170.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Genuine Parts presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.29.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 2.0 %

Genuine Parts stock opened at $143.16 on Thursday. Genuine Parts has a 12 month low of $126.35 and a 12 month high of $164.45. The firm has a market cap of $19.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.34.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by ($0.15). Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 30.03%. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.59%.

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.