LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Short Interest Update

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,930,000 shares, a growth of 27.1% from the October 31st total of 3,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LKQ. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, LKQ has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LKQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,977,708 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $478,150,000 after purchasing an additional 33,212 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in LKQ by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,449,166 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $457,051,000 after acquiring an additional 134,176 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,542,740 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $260,330,000 after acquiring an additional 21,161 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,020,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $240,346,000 after acquiring an additional 411,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 6.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,398,538 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $182,936,000 after purchasing an additional 253,639 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKQ traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,195,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,938,225. The company has a market cap of $10.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 1.29. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $38.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.64. LKQ has a 12-month low of $35.57 and a 12-month high of $53.68.

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

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.78%.

About LKQ

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.