Washington Trust Bank Has $331,000 Stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Washington Trust Bank lowered its stake in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,832 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $331,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Equity Investment Corp bought a new position in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter valued at about $84,128,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,407,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 5.4% during 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 period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 1,038.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 277,802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $38,803,000 after purchasing an additional 253,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. 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. Northcoast Research downgraded Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.63.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of GPC opened at $118.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 0.93. Genuine Parts has a one year low of $112.74 and a one year high of $164.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 25.28% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.68%.

Genuine Parts 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.