Crescent Sterling Ltd. Makes New $322,000 Investment in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Crescent Sterling Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,080 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Genuine Parts during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Genuine Parts by 109.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 184 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. WD Rutherford LLC bought a new position in Genuine Parts during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Genuine Parts during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Genuine Parts during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Genuine Parts

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total transaction of $503,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,383.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of GPC traded down $4.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $157.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,558,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,074,668. The company’s 50-day moving average is $152.49 and its 200-day moving average is $143.02. Genuine Parts has a 52-week low of $126.35 and a 52-week high of $174.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 30.92%. The firm had revenue of $5.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 9.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is presently 44.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on GPC shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI lowered 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, April 16th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective (up from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.10.

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.