Cullen Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Cullen Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,251,234 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 37,296 shares during the quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.90% of Genuine Parts worth $146,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GPC. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 18,715 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,185,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,188,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 3,494 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 4,630 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Genuine Parts by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $877,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $114.00 price target (down previously from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded Genuine Parts from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $128.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday. Northcoast Research lowered Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on Genuine Parts in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Genuine Parts currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.88.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Genuine Parts stock opened at $116.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05 and a beta of 0.93. Genuine Parts has a one year low of $112.74 and a one year high of $164.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $121.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.16.

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

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.68%.

Genuine Parts 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.