Shrewd acquisitions spur Genuine Parts

Article Excerpt

GENUINE PARTS CO. $109 (New York symbol GPC; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 146.8 million; Market cap: $16.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 2.8%; 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. Genuine has a long history of fuelling its growth with acquisitions. It tends to focus on smaller firms that it can easily absorb. Big purchase now paying off However, in November 2017, the company completed its single biggest acquisition to date. It paid $2 billion for Alliance Automotive Group. Based in France, that firm distributes automotive parts to 30,000 garages and car repair shops in France, the U.K. and Germany. It does that through 330 company-owned stores and 1,500 affiliated outlets. Genuine’s sales fell 0.4%, from $15.34 billion in 2014 to $15.28 billion in 2015. Sales rebounded to $15.34 billion in 2016,…