SG Americas Securities LLC Increases Position in Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC)

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC - Free Report) by 520.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,331 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 20,407 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $2,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GPC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at $206,645,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,868,000. Equity Investment Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,128,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,262,229 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $380,898,000 after buying an additional 518,851 shares in the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Genuine Parts Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE GPC traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $119.14. The company had a trading volume of 372,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,293,689. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.15. Genuine Parts Company has a 52-week low of $104.01 and a 52-week high of $149.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Genuine Parts's 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.