Cooke & Bieler LP Increases Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 39.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,067,772 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 873,665 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned approximately 1.17% of LKQ worth $127,589,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 47,084 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,515,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 777 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 5.3% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,572 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 4.6% during the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 5,249 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 5,229 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LKQ. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of LKQ from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.80.

LKQ Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of LKQ traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.19. The company had a trading volume of 335,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,540. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.57 and a 1-year high of $53.68. The stock has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 1.29.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.05). LKQ had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 5.03%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. LKQ’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LKQ news, Director Andrew C. Clarke acquired 7,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $39.70 per share, for a total transaction of $301,720.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,519 shares in the company, valued at $417,604.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Justin L. Jude bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.91 per share, for a total transaction of $99,775.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 207,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,281,923.65. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Andrew C. Clarke bought 7,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $39.70 per share, with a total value of $301,720.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,604.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 12,600 shares of company stock worth $500,870 over the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LKQ Company 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.