LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) Stock: Insider Andrew Clarke Buys 21,800 Shares

LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ) Director Andrew Clarke purchased 21,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.35 per share, with a total value of $400,030.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 56,850 shares in the company, valued at $1,043,197.50. This represents a 62.20% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

LKQ Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of LKQ stock traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $19.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,822,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,272,886. The company has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.15. LKQ Corporation has a one year low of $16.85 and a one year high of $37.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 1.58.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.08). LKQ had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 3.37%. The business had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that LKQ Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 120.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LKQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in LKQ during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,015,096,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in LKQ by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 22,556,858 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $514,973,000 after purchasing an additional 7,414,573 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in LKQ during the 2nd quarter valued at about $84,795,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in LKQ during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,343,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of LKQ during the second quarter valued at about $58,221,000. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on LKQ from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 26th. Zacks Research lowered shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Roth Capital cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Barclays upgraded LKQ from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Barrington Research lowered LKQ from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.07.

LKQ Company Profile

LKQ Corporation is a global distributor of automotive parts and accessories. The company supplies replacement parts, components and equipment to professional repair shops, collision-repair businesses, insurers, dealerships and other commercial customers. Its product offerings include recycled original-equipment parts, aftermarket parts, specialty vehicle products, tools and equipment.

LKQ’s operations include the procurement, dismantling and distribution of salvaged vehicles, allowing it to provide recycled engines, transmissions, body panels and other components.