Lack of new cars is good news for these two

Article Excerpt

It’s likely that the strikes at the big three American car makers will hurt the supply of new vehicles. As well, rising interest rates are making it more expensive for consumers to finance new car purchases. These factors should spur demand for replacement parts and repair services at both Genuine Parts and Snap-On. However, we prefer Genuine for your new buying. GENUINE PARTS CO. $142 is a buy. The parts retailer (New York symbol GPC; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 140.4 million; Market cap: $19.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.genpt.comwww.genpt.com) has over 10,000 company-owned and independent auto parts stores in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Most of them operate under the famous NAPA banner. This business accounts for about 60% of Genuine’s total sales. The remaining 40% comes from distributing industrial parts such as bearings, seals, pumps and hoses. Genuine Parts has a long history of using acquisitions to fuel its growth. For example,…