Auto-related stocks: 1 buy & 1 hold

Article Excerpt

Demand for new cars continues to slow. That’s good news for both Genuine Parts and Snap-On, whose products and services help drivers extend the life of their existing vehicles. Even so, we feel Genuine’s wider variety of businesses give it a slight edge over Snap-On, and we recommend it for new buying. GENUINE PARTS CO. $98 (New York symbol GPC; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 146.1 million; Market cap: $14.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.genpt.com) sells replacement auto parts through company-owned stores (under the NAPA banner) and independent outlets in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Genuine also distributes industrial parts, office products and electrical equipment. In the first half of 2019, the company spent $378.7 million on several acquisitions. Genuine focuses on smaller businesses it can easily absorb into the company’s existing operations. That cuts the risk of using acquisitions to expand. In the three months ended June 30, 2019, Genuine’s revenue rose 2.3%,…