Short Interest in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Rises By 5.0%

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, a growth of 5.0% from the March 15th total of 2,190,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 978,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

Shares of GPC stock opened at $144.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Genuine Parts has a twelve month low of $126.35 and a twelve month high of $174.91.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty retailer reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 31.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is an increase from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is 42.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GPC shares. Evercore ISI cut 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 research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 target price on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total value of $503,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,230,383.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Imprint Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 16,507.5% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,611,194 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $261,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,595,471 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter valued at $215,643,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,590,036 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $373,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076,361 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Genuine Parts during the 1st quarter valued at $124,130,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 15,175.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 713,056 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $98,758,000 after buying an additional 708,388 shares during the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.