Brokerages Set Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) Target Price at $135.29

Key Points

• The consensus target price for Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) is $135.29, with a "Moderate Buy" recommendation from analysts.
• Genuine Parts recently reported a second-quarter earnings per share of $2.10, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 3.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.08% and a payout ratio of 70.91%.

Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $135.29.

A number of analysts recently commented on GPC shares. 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 research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus raised Genuine Parts to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Genuine Parts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Genuine Parts from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "sell" rating and set a $114.00 price objective (down from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Genuine Parts

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GPC. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 196,887 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $22,988,000 after acquiring an additional 29,042 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 77,483 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $9,047,000 after buying an additional 21,600 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 283,812 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $33,166,000 after buying an additional 40,588 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter valued at $19,966,000. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 14,282 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,668,000 after buying an additional 1,908 shares during the period. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Shares of GPC traded down $0.94 on Friday, reaching $132.76. 267,241 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,423,765. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $18.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83 and a beta of 0.74. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $124.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.18. Genuine Parts has a 52-week low of $104.01 and a 52-week high of $149.22.

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

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Genuine Parts's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.91%.

About Genuine Parts

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.