Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Position in Genuine Parts Company $GPC

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 404,250 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the quarter. Genuine Parts comprises approximately 1.6% of Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.29% of Genuine Parts worth $49,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPC. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Genuine Parts in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Genuine Parts in the first quarter valued at $27,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Genuine Parts in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 148.7% in the second quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 296 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 7,950.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 322 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Genuine Parts has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.86.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

NYSE:GPC opened at $131.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67 and a beta of 0.77. Genuine Parts Company has a fifty-two week low of $104.01 and a fifty-two week high of $144.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $137.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.00.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.02. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 22.41%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Genuine Parts Company will post 7.9 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Naveen Krishna sold 5,303 shares of Genuine Parts stock in a transaction on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.12, for a total transaction of $732,450.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,112 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,589.44. This trade represents a 16.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Genuine Parts

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.