Short Interest in Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) Declines By 27.5%

Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,840,000 shares, a drop of 27.5% from the May 15th total of 5,300,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Genuine Parts Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:GPC traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $119.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 215,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,482,744. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 0.76. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $120.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.15. 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 announced 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. 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Genuine Parts's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded Genuine Parts to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Genuine Parts from $133.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated 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. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Genuine Parts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Genuine Parts

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,698,737 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $198,338,000 after buying an additional 182,965 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased 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 purchasing an additional 25,583 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,840,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at $1,320,000. Finally, 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 worth $3,075,000 after acquiring an additional 21,178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company's stock.

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.

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