Hennessy Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,900 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,083,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GPC. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 109.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 184 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Genuine Parts in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 138.7% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 284 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 149.0% in the 1st quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 254 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Genuine Parts in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 price target (up previously from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $151.29, for a total value of $453,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,967,677.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of GPC traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $137.47. 349,846 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 985,073. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $149.03 and a 200-day moving average of $146.43. Genuine Parts has a fifty-two week low of $126.35 and a fifty-two week high of $170.57.

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

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio 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.