Stock’s Earnings in Focus: Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC)

Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) reported earnings for the three months ended Mar2016 on April 19, 2016. The company earned $1.05 per share on revenue of $3.72B. Analysts had been modeling earning per share of $1.04 with $3.72B in revenue.

Genuine Parts Company (GPC) on April 19, 2016 announced first quarter sales and earnings for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

Sales for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 were $3.72 billion, compared to sales of $3.74 billion for the same period in 2015.  Net income for the first quarter was $158.0 million compared to $161.0 million recorded for the same period in the previous year. Earnings per share on a diluted basis were $1.05, equal to the earnings per share for the first quarter last year.  Currency negatively impacted total revenue growth by approximately 1.5% and earnings per share by an approximate $0.01 in the first quarter.

Tom Gallagher, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased to report that our first quarter performance was in-line with our expectations.  Our growth initiatives for the automotive business along with consistently strong industry fundamentals continue to drive our positive automotive performance.  Our non-automotive businesses continue to operate in a difficult economic environment.”

Total sales in the first quarter were down 0.5% from the prior year, inclusive of the 1.5% currency headwind, which was partially offset by acquisitions.  Sales for the Automotive Group were up 2%, consisting of an approximate 3.5% core sales increase, a 1% benefit from acquisitions, and a reduction of 2.5% from currency translation.  Sales at Motion Industries, our Industrial Group, were down 2.5%, including a 3% underlying sales decrease and a 1% currency headwind, offset by a 1.5% contribution from acquisitions.  Sales at EIS, our Electrical/Electronic Group, and S. P. Richards, our Office Products Group, were each down approximately 3%.

Genuine Parts Company earnings per share showed an increasing trend of 0.5% for the current fiscal year. The company’s expected EPS growth rate for next fiscal year is 514%.Analysts project EPS growth over the next 5 years at 4.4%. It has EPS annual growth over the past 5 fiscal years of 9.1% when sales grew 6.4. It reported -0.5% sales drop, and 0.3% EPS growth in the last quarter.

The stock is trading at $96.92, up 27.6% from 52-week low of $76.5. The stock trades down -3.08% from its peak of $100 and -0.36% below the consensus price target of $96.57. Its volume clocked up at 0.74 million shares which is higher than the average volume of 0.69 million shares. Its market capitalization currently stands at $14.52B.