Why Genuine Parts Shares Are Falling Today

Genuine Parts Company GPC shares are trading lower on Thursday.

The company reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $2.26, beating the street view of $2.20. The company reported revenue of $5.586 billion, missing the consensus of $5.64 billion. Sales rose 1.1% year over year.

The company said sales improvement is attributable to a 2.0% benefit from acquisitions, 0.3% favorable impact of foreign currency, and others, partially offset by a 1.2% decrease in comparable sales.

Global Automotive sales were $3.5 billion, up 0.8% from the same period in 2022. Industrial sales were $2.1 billion, up 1.7% year over year.

The company generated cash flow from operations of $1.4 billion for the twelve months of 2023. 

The company ended the quarter and year with $2.6 billion in total liquidity, consisting of $1.5 billion availability on the revolving credit facility and $1.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents.

Dividend: The company approved an approximately 5% increase in its regular quarterly cash dividend for 2024. 

The quarterly cash dividend of $1.00 per share is payable on April 1, 2024, to shareholders of record on March 1, 2024.

Restructuring Plans: The company is introducing a global restructuring, which will incur about $100 million to $200 million in non-recurring expenses. Through these efforts, the company expects to realize approximately $20 million to $40 million of savings in 2024 and roughly $45 million to $90 million on an annualized basis.

Outlook: For FY24, the company expects total sales growth of 3% to 5%, with adjusted EPS of $9.70 to $9.90 versus the $9.84 estimate.

Price Action: GPC shares are trading lower by 1.49% to $141.90 on the last check Thursday.