National Bank of Canada FI Raises Stock Position in Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC)

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Genuine Parts Company by 53.5%, acquiring an additional 38,506 shares during Q1, bringing its total to 110,418 shares valued at $13.15 million.
• Genuine Parts reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.10, exceeding expectations of $2.08, with revenue also surpassing estimates at $6.16 billion.
• Brokerages have given Genuine Parts mixed ratings, with one sell rating, five hold ratings, four buy ratings, and one strong buy, resulting in an average rating of "Hold".

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC - Free Report) by 53.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,418 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 38,506 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.08% of Genuine Parts worth $13,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 276.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,352,772 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $399,449,000 after buying an additional 2,461,497 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter valued at $94,868,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in Genuine Parts by 204.7% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 789,050 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $92,129,000 after purchasing an additional 530,057 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Genuine Parts by 20,194.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 476,322 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $56,749,000 after purchasing an additional 473,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,502,852 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $292,233,000 after acquiring an additional 445,259 shares during the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Genuine Parts from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Genuine Parts from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Argus raised Genuine Parts to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Genuine Parts from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $135.29.

Genuine Parts Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of GPC traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $137.84. The company had a trading volume of 968,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,413,501. Genuine Parts Company has a 1-year low of $104.01 and a 1-year high of $144.49. The stock has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.02. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 22.41% and a net margin of 3.40%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Genuine Parts Company will post 7.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Genuine Parts's payout ratio is presently 70.91%.

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.