Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 11,848 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Genuine Parts worth $21,886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GPC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,698,737 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $198,338,000 after buying an additional 182,965 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 436.0% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 31,451 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,672,000 after buying an additional 25,583 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter worth about $1,320,000. FORA Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 410.9% during the 4th quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 26,332 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,075,000 after purchasing an additional 21,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bastion Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,391,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 26th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus raised Genuine Parts to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Genuine Parts from $133.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $114.00 price target (down from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.86.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 1.7%

GPC traded down $2.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $123.85. 207,652 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,300,365. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company's fifty day moving average price is $123.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.33. The company has a market cap of $17.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32 and a beta of 0.74. Genuine Parts Company has a one year low of $104.01 and a one year high of $149.22.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 23.71% and a net margin of 3.60%. As a group, analysts expect that Genuine Parts Company will post 7.9 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Genuine Parts's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.65%.

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.