Northcoast Research Downgrades Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) to Neutral

Northcoast Research cut shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on GPC. StockNews.com cut Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $162.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Genuine Parts to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.50.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GPC opened at $118.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $16.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24 and a beta of 0.95. Genuine Parts has a 12 month low of $112.74 and a 12 month high of $164.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $120.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.43.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.54). The company had revenue of $6 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.94 billion. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 27.23%. Genuine Parts’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 8.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is 51.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 1,608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.78, for a total transaction of $194,214.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,371,698.46. This represents a 12.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Genuine Parts

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 21.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,368,562 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $189,296,000 after buying an additional 239,858 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the second quarter valued at approximately $10,900,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 266.5% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,007 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 4,368 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 26.9% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 36,809 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,091,000 after purchasing an additional 7,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 4.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,498 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.