Engineers Gate Manager LP Grows Stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 86.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,909 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,300 shares during the quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $20,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LAD. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter valued at $125,214,000. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter valued at $58,409,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 183.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 162,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,149,000 after acquiring an additional 105,478 shares in the last quarter. Hook Mill Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the third quarter valued at $29,130,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 57.5% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 197,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,691,000 after acquiring an additional 72,061 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In related news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total transaction of $83,329.29. Following the sale, the director directly owned 760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,233.20. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total value of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $513,780.84. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 782 shares of company stock worth $229,572 over the last ninety days. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 4.8%

Lithia Motors stock opened at $292.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $239.78 and a one year high of $360.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $284.05 and its 200 day moving average is $298.49.

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

Lithia Motors declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 8.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LAD. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lithia Motors from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Lithia Motors in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $348.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.11.

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.