Hennessy Advisors Inc. Acquires New Shares in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 19,900 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,083,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Genuine Parts in the third quarter valued at about $662,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Genuine Parts by 340.1% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,423 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 7,282 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 87.9% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 27,732 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,004,000 after acquiring an additional 12,970 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 11.2% during the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 7,850 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the third quarter worth about $1,593,000. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Genuine Parts stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $137.47. The company had a trading volume of 366,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 985,210. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Genuine Parts has a 12-month low of $126.35 and a 12-month high of $170.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $149.03 and its 200-day moving average is $146.43. The company has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.92.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 30.92% and a net margin of 5.46%. The firm had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 9.92 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GPC shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price target (up previously from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.44.

Insider Activity

In other Genuine Parts news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.29, for a total value of $453,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,967,677.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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.