Polymer Capital Management US LLC Takes $343,000 Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new position in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,941 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter worth $206,645,000. Equity Investment Corp bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at about $84,128,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,407,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 95.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 391,670 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $54,708,000 after acquiring an additional 191,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter worth approximately $21,840,000. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPC has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $114.00 price target (down previously from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Genuine Parts from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Genuine Parts presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.88.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 5.5 %

GPC stock opened at $110.41 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.14. The company has a market cap of $15.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.16. Genuine Parts has a fifty-two week low of $108.86 and a fifty-two week high of $164.45.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 25.28% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is presently 63.68%.

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.