Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Reduces Stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI cut its stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,337 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 451 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Morton Community Bank raised its stake in Genuine Parts by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Morton Community Bank now owns 23,366 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,728,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 28,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,280,000 after buying an additional 8,098 shares during the period. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,198 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GPC shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.63.

Genuine Parts Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of GPC stock opened at $119.24 on Friday. Genuine Parts has a fifty-two week low of $112.74 and a fifty-two week high of $164.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $120.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43 and a beta of 0.93. 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 (NYSE:GPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 25.28% and a net margin of 3.85%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is currently 63.68%.

Genuine Parts Company 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.