Argus analyst Deborah Ciervo raised her price target on Advance Auto Parts to $184 and kept her Buy rating after its Q2 earnings beat, also raising her FY19 EPS forecast to $8.06 from $7.90. The analyst cites expectations for margin expansion coming from better sales growth, along with improved inventory management and customer services. Ciervo attributes the improvements to Advance Auto Parts becoming a more efficient company under the leadership of a noted activist investor and its chairman Jeffrey Smith. The analyst also notes that the company's premium valuation of 26.6-times trailing earnings relative to 15-times peer group average is justified by its ongoing turnaround.