Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $380.00 to $418.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Lithia Motors traded as high as $390.00 and last traded at $388.71, with a volume of 9860 shares. The stock had previously closed at $382.50.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $357.60.

Insider Activity

In other Lithia Motors news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total transaction of $6,127,965.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,408,369.28. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,754,677.36. This trade represents a 23.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,456 shares of company stock worth $13,216,592. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 14.7% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,390,000 after purchasing an additional 217,867 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Lithia Motors by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,016,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,621,000 after buying an additional 203,543 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 753,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,204,000 after acquiring an additional 85,579 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 365,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,997,000 after acquiring an additional 78,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tensile Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tensile Capital Management LP now owns 261,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,071,000 after acquiring an additional 6,252 shares during the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

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’s 50 day moving average price is $326.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.84. The stock has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.63.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.25 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.24%.

About Lithia Motors

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.