Updating Genuine Parts Co., Ameren Corp. and T. Rowe Price Group Inc.

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GENUINE PARTS CO. $102 (www.genpt.com) earned $1.24 a share in the quarter ended September 30, 2014, up 10.7% from $1.12 a year earlier. Sales rose 8.2%, to a record $4.0 billion from $3.7 billion. Sales at its auto parts business (52% of the total) rose 4.1%. Thanks mainly to acquisitions, sales at its other businesses (industrial parts, office products and electrical materials) gained 13.5%. The stock has jumped 16% in the past three months and now trades at a high 20.1 times the $5.07 a share Genuine will likely earn for all of 2014. Hold. AMEREN CORP. $43 (www.ameren.com) has raised its quarterly dividend by 2.5%, to $0.41 a share from $0.40. The new annual rate of $1.64 yields 3.8%. Ameren should benefit from recent rate increases at its gas-distribution operations. However, most of its power plants burn coal, so it will have to convert them to gas and other fuels to comply with tougher environmental regulations. Hold. T…