Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

Several other analysts also recently commented on LAD. Bank of America raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lithia Motors from $305.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on Lithia Motors from $326.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lithia Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $381.44.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:LAD traded up $2.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $314.43. The stock had a trading volume of 158,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,332. The business’s 50 day moving average is $292.34 and its 200-day moving average is $294.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.26. Lithia Motors has a one year low of $239.78 and a one year high of $360.55.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.28. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.49%. 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. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 34.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total value of $83,329.29. Following the sale, the director directly owned 760 shares in the company, valued at $213,233.20. The trade was a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 245 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.64, for a total value of $72,186.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $543,905.44. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 782 shares of company stock valued at $229,572. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithia Motors

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 842 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 4,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Company 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.