Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Now Covered by Benchmark

Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $361.45.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of LAD stock opened at $348.34 on Wednesday. Lithia Motors has a 52-week low of $243.00 and a 52-week high of $405.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $368.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $314.91.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. Lithia Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 29.42 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued 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 0.61%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.24%.

Insider Activity

In other Lithia Motors news, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.86, for a total transaction of $92,652.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $661,964.94. This trade represents a 12.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total value of $2,855,989.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 32,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,744,821.34. This trade represents a 21.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,290 shares of company stock valued at $17,959,596. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versor Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 259,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,560,000 after buying an additional 37,677 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 22.9% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 70,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,774,000 after buying an additional 13,126 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 118.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,609,000 after buying an additional 87,362 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 46.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 10,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,650,000 after acquiring an additional 3,313 shares in the last quarter.

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.