Townsquare Capital LLC Sells 5,319 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Townsquare Capital LLC cut its stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,562 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 5,319 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $2,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter worth about $206,645,000. Equity Investment Corp bought a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter worth $84,128,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,262,229 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $380,898,000 after buying an additional 518,851 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter worth about $57,407,000. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 95.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 391,670 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $54,708,000 after acquiring an additional 191,272 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPC opened at $114.37 on Wednesday. Genuine Parts has a 1 year low of $104.01 and a 1 year high of $164.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $120.16 and its 200 day moving average is $121.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 0.82.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 25.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is currently 63.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GPC. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $114.00 price objective (down from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Northcoast Research downgraded Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Genuine Parts from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $128.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.88.

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.