Short Interest in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Increases By 29.9%

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,870,000 shares, a growth of 29.9% from the October 31st total of 2,210,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,210,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GPC shares. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Genuine Parts to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $162.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Genuine Parts from $164.00 to $129.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.57.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

NYSE:GPC traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $126.55. The stock had a trading volume of 20,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,050,769. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.92. Genuine Parts has a 52 week low of $112.74 and a 52 week high of $164.45.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.54). The firm had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.94 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 27.23% and a net margin of 4.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 8.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.48%.

Institutional Trading of Genuine Parts

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GPC. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Genuine Parts by 22.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 221,936 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,947,000 after purchasing an additional 41,262 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 146,185 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,420,000 after purchasing an additional 39,871 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 95.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 391,670 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $54,708,000 after purchasing an additional 191,272 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in Genuine Parts by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 15,802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,207,000 after buying an additional 3,338 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 1,229.9% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 32,476 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,536,000 after buying an additional 30,034 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

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.