Norges Bank Acquires New Shares in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Norges Bank bought a new position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 376,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,214,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,062.8% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 11,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,679,000 after acquiring an additional 10,118 shares during the period. Abrams Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,490,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $787,009,000 after purchasing an additional 45,856 shares during the period. Tabor Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Lithia Motors during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,722,000. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter worth about $58,409,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 12.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 142,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,959,000 after purchasing an additional 16,226 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $348.00 price target for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $326.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.11.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of LAD stock opened at $291.27 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $298.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.26. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $239.78 and a fifty-two week high of $360.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.06 by $0.28. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.66 earnings per share. Lithia Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This is an increase from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 8.01%.

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 245 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.64, for a total value of $72,186.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,905.44. The trade was a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total value of $83,329.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 760 shares in the company, valued at $213,233.20. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 617 shares of company stock valued at $174,966. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Profile

Lithia Motors, Inc is an American automotive retailer headquartered in Medford, Oregon. Founded in 1946 as a small auto body and glass shop, the company has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest automotive retail networks in North America. Lithia operates dealerships across the United States and Canada, offering a broad portfolio of new and pre-owned vehicles from more than 40 different manufacturers.

The company’s core business activities include vehicle sales, financing, insurance, parts and service.