Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Director Sells $27,804.75 in Stock

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Director Stacy Congdon sold 75 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.73, for a total value of $27,804.75. Following the sale, the director owned 2,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,679. This represents a 3.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

NYSE:LAD traded up $2.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $360.61. 175,532 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,552. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $239.78 and a fifty-two week high of $439.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $359.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $306.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The company had revenue of $9.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LAD. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $490.00 price objective on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $436.33.

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 stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 27,407.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,795,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,264,372,000 after purchasing an additional 7,766,671 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the second quarter valued at approximately $696,482,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter valued at $125,214,000. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter valued at $66,988,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter worth $63,015,000.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

Lithia Motors, operating under the Lithia & Driveway name, is an automotive retail company that sells new and used vehicles through a network of dealerships and digital channels. Its retail operations represent numerous automobile manufacturers and provide customers with vehicle purchasing, financing, leasing and protection products.

The company also operates parts and service departments that provide maintenance, repairs, collision work and replacement parts. Through its Driveway platform, Lithia offers online vehicle shopping, financing, trade-ins and delivery services, extending its automotive retail model beyond traditional dealership locations.

Founded in 1946 in Ashland, Oregon, Lithia Motors has expanded through acquisitions and dealership development.