NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- AutoZone (AZO) - Get Report shares are down 0.2% to $666.17 in early market trading on Wednesday after the automotive parts retailer announced the authorization of a repurchase of an additional $750 million of company stock yesterday after the closing bell.

The company has continued to add funds to its share repurchase program since its inception in 1998.

"AutoZone's continued strong financial performance allows us to repurchase our stock while maintaining our investment grade credit ratings. We remain committed to utilizing share repurchases within the bounds of a disciplined capital structure to enhance stockholder returns while maintaining adequate liquidity to execute our plans," said CFO Bill Giles.

Autozone shares closed intraday trading down 0.6% to $667.45 yesterday.

TheStreet Ratings team rates AUTOZONE INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate AUTOZONE INC (AZO) a BUY. This is driven by multiple strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, growth in earnings per share, revenue growth, expanding profit margins and increase in net income. Although no company is perfect, currently we do not see any significant weaknesses which are likely to detract from the generally positive outlook."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• Investors have apparently begun to recognize positive factors similar to those we have mentioned in this report, including earnings growth. This has helped drive up the company's shares by a sharp 25.12% over the past year, a rise that has exceeded that of the S&P 500 Index. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, AZO should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• AUTOZONE INC has improved earnings per share by 15.6% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, AUTOZONE INC increased its bottom line by earning $31.66 versus $27.88 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($35.88 versus $31.66).
• Despite its growing revenue, the company underperformed as compared with the industry average of 13.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 7.7%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• The gross profit margin for AUTOZONE INC is rather high; currently it is at 55.04%. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Along with this, the net profit margin of 9.87% is above that of the industry average.
• The company, on the basis of net income growth from the same quarter one year ago, has underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and greatly underperformed compared to the Specialty Retail industry average. The net income increased by 9.8% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $192.83 million to $211.72 million.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: AZO Ratings Report

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