Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Announces Dividend Increase – $1.03 Per Share

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 1.03 per share by the specialty retailer on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00.

Genuine Parts has increased its dividend by an average of 7.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 69 years. Genuine Parts has a payout ratio of 43.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Genuine Parts to earn $9.04 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.2%.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Shares of GPC stock opened at $122.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business has a fifty day moving average of $118.25 and a 200 day moving average of $127.30. Genuine Parts has a 1 year low of $112.74 and a 1 year high of $164.45.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 24.99% and a net margin of 3.85%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Northcoast Research downgraded Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Genuine Parts to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Genuine Parts

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 1,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.78, for a total value of $194,214.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,371,698.46. The trade was 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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.