Employees Retirement System of Texas Buys Shares of 506 Genuine Parts Company $GPC

Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 506 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $61,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the 2nd quarter valued at $938,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Genuine Parts by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 45,381 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 62.6% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 10,003 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,213,000 after buying an additional 3,851 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 118,178 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $14,336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Southeast Asset Advisors LLC bought a new position in Genuine Parts during the second quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GPC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Genuine Parts from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Genuine Parts from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.00.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 0.4%

Genuine Parts stock opened at $130.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.14 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.49. Genuine Parts Company has a 12 month low of $104.01 and a 12 month high of $143.48.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by ($0.04). Genuine Parts had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Genuine Parts has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.500-7.750 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts Company will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is currently 70.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Naveen Krishna sold 5,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.12, for a total value of $732,450.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 26,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,589.44. This represents a 16.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company 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.