Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Stephens upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.60.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD opened at $386.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Lithia Motors has a twelve month low of $243.00 and a twelve month high of $405.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a P/E/G ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $340.34 and a 200-day moving average of $293.82.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors will post 29.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 7.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 6,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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. This represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $382.86, for a total value of $92,652.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $661,964.94. This trade represents a 12.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 58,067 shares of company stock worth $20,933,294 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 95,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,585,000 after buying an additional 2,261 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Lithia Motors by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the third quarter valued at $217,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the third quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.6% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period.

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.