Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, April 26, 2024

Article Excerpt

GENUINE PARTS CO., $159.93, New York symbol GPC, is a buy. The company is a leading seller of replacement auto parts. It has about 10,000 company-owned stores (mainly operating under the famous NAPA banner) and independent outlets in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Genuine also distributes industrial parts such as bearings, seals, pumps and hoses. With the April 1, 2024, payment, Genuine raised your quarterly dividend by 5.3%. Investors now receive $1.00 a share instead of $0.95. The new annual rate of $4.00 yields 2.5%. The company has increased that annual rate each year for the past 68 years. Genuine’s sales in the three months ended March 31, 2024, rose 0.3%, to $5.78 billion from $5.77 billion a year earlier. However, that missed the consensus forecast of $5.84 billion. If you factor out acquisitions and currency rates, sales declined 0.9%. Earnings before unusual items also improved 2.3%, to $310.9 million from $304.0 million. Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings rose at…