River Road Asset Management LLC Buys 125,980 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 417.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 156,148 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 125,980 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned 0.11% of Genuine Parts worth $21,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in Genuine Parts during the 2nd quarter worth about $190,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 122.2% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the third quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new position in Genuine Parts during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 target price on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Genuine Parts currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.33.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE GPC opened at $148.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $149.56 and its 200 day moving average is $142.09. Genuine Parts has a twelve month low of $126.35 and a twelve month high of $174.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 31.64% and a net margin of 5.70%. The company had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total transaction of $503,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,383.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.