Raymond James believes that a planned business separation should help unlock value for shares of Genuine Parts Company . The bank double upgraded the automotive parts distributor to a strong buy rating from market perform. Analyst Sam Darkatsh also implemented a price target of $145, which offers upside of about 25%. The analyst thinks the underperformance has resulted in an attractive risk-reward ratio and that the stock "trades well below implied fair value." GPC 1Y mountain GPC 1Y chart "GPC is undergoing a strategic transformation via the separation of its automotive (NAPA) and industrial (Motion Industries), which operationally run mostly independently of each other," he wrote. "GPC shares are off ~20% since the 4Q print despite announcing the separation of its Auto and Industrial businesses. We now view the setup as constructively asymmetric based on conservative sum-of-the-parts math." Darkatsh applauded the company's "clear timeline to value creation," with this separation due for completion by the first quarter of 2027. Another tailwind, he added, is that investor days will be scheduled for both businesses in the second half of 2026, which should help with valuation. The analyst acknowledged that near-term sentiment might be challenged by a potential rotation out by dividend-driven investors and weak automobile demand. However, he noted that industrial data has improved of late. "Near-term sentiment may be pressured by a soft automotive end-market, but we believe investors will better realize GPC's value as the targeted completion of the separation approaches (1Q27)," he added. Shares of Genuine Parts Company have slipped 5% over the past 12 months and 6% this year.
