Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Raises Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 126.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,035 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,156 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $4,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of 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. Dover Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 5.1% during the second quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 1,756 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Genuine Parts by 1.9% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 4,477 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. increased its holdings in Genuine Parts by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 6,793 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $940,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,464 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush reduced their target price on Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Genuine Parts to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.57.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

Shares of GPC stock opened at $123.42 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.22. The company has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.88 and a beta of 0.94. Genuine Parts has a one year low of $112.74 and a one year high of $164.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.54). Genuine Parts had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 27.23%. The firm had revenue of $6 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 8.09 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.48%.

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.