Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 14.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,355 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 15,201 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $3,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,977,708 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $478,150,000 after acquiring an additional 33,212 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in LKQ by 9.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,220,571 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $438,108,000 after purchasing an additional 712,698 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in LKQ by 6.1% during 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. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in LKQ by 39.8% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 3,067,772 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $127,589,000 after purchasing an additional 873,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,488,432 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $99,338,000 after buying an additional 12,766 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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 reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com raised LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.80.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $39.13 on Thursday. LKQ Co. has a 52-week low of $35.57 and a 52-week high of $53.68. The company’s 50 day moving average is $38.70 and its 200 day moving average is $40.70. The firm has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.01. LKQ had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 15.15%. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. LKQ’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.78%.

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.