Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

LAD has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.60.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $387.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $338.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $292.90. Lithia Motors has a 1-year low of $243.00 and a 1-year high of $405.67. The company has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a PEG ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 1.63.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The firm had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 29.42 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,754,677.36. This trade represents a 23.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 6,742 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,696,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 174,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,778,000. This represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 58,067 shares of company stock valued at $20,933,294 in the last 90 days. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LAD. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 83.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 12,500.0% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter valued at $80,000.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer worldwide. It operates in two segments, Vehicle Operations and Financing Operations. The company’s Vehicle Operations segment sells new and used vehicles; provides parts, repair, and maintenance services; vehicle finance; and insurance products. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.