Insider Selling: Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) CEO Sells 6,742 Shares of Stock

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 6,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,696,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,778,000. The trade was a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 1.2 %

LAD opened at $386.16 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a P/E/G ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.63. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.00 and a 12 month high of $405.67. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $334.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

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

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lithia Motors

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in Lithia Motors by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,390,000 after purchasing an additional 217,867 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,016,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,621,000 after purchasing an additional 203,543 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,960.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 126,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,311,000 after buying an additional 120,749 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 5,233.4% in the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 107,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,187,000 after buying an additional 105,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Lithia Motors by 118.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,609,000 after acquiring an additional 87,362 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LAD shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $357.60.

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.