Barrington Research Reaffirms Outperform Rating for LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ)

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by equities researchers at Barrington Research in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 price objective on the auto parts company’s stock. Barrington Research’s price objective points to a potential upside of 47.17% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also commented on LKQ. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on LKQ from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LKQ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

LKQ Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ opened at $40.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.33. LKQ has a 12 month low of $35.57 and a 12 month high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by ($0.05). LKQ had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 5.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that LKQ will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other LKQ news, CEO Justin L. Jude purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.91 per share, for a total transaction of $99,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,281,923.65. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Justin L. Jude acquired 2,500 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $39.91 per share, for a total transaction of $99,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,281,923.65. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Andrew C. Clarke bought 7,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.70 per share, with a total value of $301,720.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,519 shares in the company, valued at $417,604.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 12,600 shares of company stock worth $500,870. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in LKQ by 2,670.3% in the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 18,284 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 17,624 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in LKQ in the second quarter valued at $1,204,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 653,739 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,189,000 after purchasing an additional 156,430 shares during the last quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 31,500 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the period. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LKQ during the 2nd quarter worth about $282,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

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.