City Center Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

City Center Advisors LLC increased its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,500 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the quarter. City Center Advisors LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LKQ in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of LKQ by 94.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,010 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in LKQ by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in LKQ by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in LKQ during the third quarter worth $57,000. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKQ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $184,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 374,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,795,180.08. The trade was a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LKQ Stock Down 0.2 %

LKQ opened at $36.27 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 1.30. LKQ Co. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $53.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.57.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.01. LKQ had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 15.15%. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. LKQ’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.78%.

LKQ Profile

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.