Empirical Finance LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,885 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 8.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 12,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 23,768 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its position in Genuine Parts by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 4,477 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 363,907 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $50,831,000 after buying an additional 150,356 shares during the period. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on GPC shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $164.00 to $129.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock 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 for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Genuine Parts from $162.00 to $138.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Genuine Parts from $162.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.57.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 1.0 %

GPC opened at $122.62 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $17.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.31. Genuine Parts has a 52 week low of $112.74 and a 52 week high of $164.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

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

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.48%.

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.