3 Auto Stocks To Buy For The Electric Car Revolution

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) , helped by its bold, futurist chief executive, grabs a ton of the coverage in the automotive industry’s electric vehicle race, yet other more established carmakers might be positioned to fare better in the long-run.

Tesla’s continued failure to meet production goals for its less-expensive Model 3 sedan hasn’t negatively impacted its stock price. Elon Musk’s company even saw its shares climb recently on the back of a big new analyst “Buy” rating and a $500 per share 12-month price target (also read: Tesla (TSLA) Stock Pops Again, But Should Investors Hit The Breaks?).

Tesla is currently a Zacks Rank # 3 (Hold) and scored an “F” for both Value and Growth in our Style Score system. This might help scare away traditional auto investors, especially those who don’t love that the firm doesn’t operate like a traditional automaker and rarely meets its own production goals.

But investors who want to get in on the electric car revolution still have a ton of options, as almost all of the automotive industry has started to jump on the electric vehicle wagon—many in full-force.

Today we will look at three big-time automakers that have embraced the electric car movement and could help investors profit soon.

Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) AG (OTC:VLKAY)

Last month, Volkswagen announced that it is set to build electric versions of all 300 models under its 12-brand umbrella. The company said it will spend about $24 billion by 2030 in order to complete its new EV mission, and Volkswagen will spend more than double that amount on batteries alone.

The world’s largest automaker by vehicles sold is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and scored an “A” for both Growth and Momentum in our Style Scores system. Volkswagen is currently trading at 6.35x earnings, which marks a discount compared to the highly ranked “Automotive – Foreign” industry average. The firm’s P/B ratio of 0.74 and 0.34 P/S ratio also represent discounts against the industry and should help light-up some value investors’ eyes.

Volkswagen’s 17.75% year-to-date price change almost doubles the industry average and tops the S&P 500 by a wide margin. Shares of the company, which owns Audi, Porsche, and others, might be set to keep climbing as revenues and earnings are projected to grow based on our current consensus estimates.

For the upcoming full-year, Volkswagen’s revenues are expected to pop 13.76% while its earnings are projected to skyrocket 134.36%.

Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM)

Toyota helped spark the clean car revolution with its hybrid vehicles in the early 2000s, and now it is ready to develop a plethora of completely electric cars, SUVs, light trucks, and mini-vehicles in a joint venture with Mazda. Toyota will reportedly own 90% of a new company called EV Common Architecture Spirit Co Ltd, which is set to take on electric car giants and newly-subsidized Chinese brands.

Toyota is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock and rocks an overall VGM grade of an “A” in our Style Scores system. The company’s place within the “Automotive – Foreign” industry puts it in the top 4% of the 265 different industries tracked by Zacks—and as many investors know, buying strongly ranked stocks in a high performing industry can often be a great choice.

Within the last 60 days, the car company has received two upward earnings estimate revisions for its full-year and following year. Revenues are projected to gain 1.15% for the year to top out at $257.65 billion, based on current consensus estimates. On top of that, Toyota’s earnings are projected to hit $11.71 per share for the year, marking a 2% climb. These figures won’t blow away many growth investors, but they represent solid direction for a well-established brand.

What’s more, the Japanese car making giant sold the second-most vehicles in the world last year, and the company is already developing its own electric vehicles.

Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC)

Fellow Japanese automotive powerhouse Honda also makes the list of highly ranked Zacks stocks with ties to electric car production. Honda announced that it hopes to electrify two-thirds of its vehicles by 2030. Just last month, it debuted its new Urban EV electric concept that will go into production soon in order to hit the streets of Europe by 2019.

Honda already sells an all-electric “Clarity” car in the U.S., and it’s currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The company also scored an “A” for both Value and Growth in our Style Scores system to help it earn an overall VGM grade of “A.”

Shares of Honda are currently trading at 9.18x earnings, which is just over the industry average. Also, Honda’s 0.42 P/S ratio and P/B ratio of 0.78 both mark discounts against the “Automotive - Foreign” industry average and should help attract value investors.

Within the last 60 days, Honda has received one upward earnings estimate revision for next quarter and two for its full-year. The company’s earnings are projected to soar 21.25% in the coming quarter and 6.39% for the year. Honda’s sales are also expected to climb 2.35% to reach $132.65 billion.

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