180 Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 514 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,143 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $2,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abrams Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 2.2% during the first quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,444,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,611,000 after buying an additional 53,490 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 10,136,710.0% during the 1st quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 2,027,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,112,000 after acquiring an additional 2,027,342 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,267,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,053,000 after purchasing an additional 72,980 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Lithia Motors by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 376,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,508,000 after purchasing an additional 30,420 shares during the period. Finally, Advent International L.P. grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 32.1% during the first quarter. Advent International L.P. now owns 286,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,183,000 after purchasing an additional 69,635 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $378.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $383.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $317.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.33.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

NYSE:LAD opened at $325.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $322.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $316.22. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $262.10 and a 1 year high of $405.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.97. The firm had revenue of $9.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.38 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 13.42% and a net margin of 2.39%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.21 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 6.52%.

Lithia Motors declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 26th that allows the company to buyback $750.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 256 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.05, for a total value of $75,020.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $403,236.80. This represents a 15.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

About Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer worldwide. It operates in two segments, Vehicle Operations and Financing Operations. The company’s Vehicle Operations segment sells new and used vehicles; provides parts, repair, and maintenance services; vehicle finance; and insurance products. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.