Genuine Parts Company (GPC) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Investment Research

Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, July 24th.

According to Zacks, “Genuine Parts earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the second quarter of 2017. However, revenues in the quarter rose year over year and beat the estimate. It is expected to face a short-term liquidity crisis at the time of declining sales, as approximately 53% of the current asset is locked in its merchandised inventory. Also, a continuous rise in selling, administrative & other expenses will create a further pressure on the financials of the company. Genuine Parts shares have also underperformed the industry it belongs to, in the last three months.”

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) cut Genuine Parts from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. BidaskClub lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. Jefferies Group LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Thursday, July 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.86.

Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) traded down 0.27% during trading on Monday, hitting $83.88. The stock had a trading volume of 524,531 shares. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $87.69 and its 200 day moving average is $92.39. The company has a market cap of $12.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 1.04. Genuine Parts has a 1-year low of $80.86 and a 1-year high of $105.18.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The specialty retailer reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post $4.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Genuine Parts by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,290 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 517,188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $49,413,000 after buying an additional 56,636 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,031,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter worth $460,000. Finally, Searle & CO. acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter worth $411,000. 73.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Genuine Parts Company Profile

Genuine Parts Company is a service organization engaged in the distribution of automotive replacement parts, industrial replacement parts, office products and electrical/electronic materials. The Company’s segments include Automotive, Industrial, Office Products Group, Electrical/Electronic Materials and Other.

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