Bridge City Capital LLC Increases Stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Bridge City Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,180 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,586 shares during the quarter. Lithia Motors accounts for approximately 2.0% of Bridge City Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Bridge City Capital LLC’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $7,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 259,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,560,000 after purchasing an additional 37,677 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter worth $91,190,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 208,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 497.7% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the third quarter worth $731,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on LAD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.36.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

NYSE:LAD opened at $306.45 on Friday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $243.00 and a one year high of $405.68. The company has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $345.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $341.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 12.43%. Equities analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.14%.

Insider Activity at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.86, for a total transaction of $126,054.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $645,786.90. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 248 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.84, for a total transaction of $72,128.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,297 shares in the company, valued at $377,219.48. The trade was a 16.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,246 shares of company stock worth $433,724. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Profile

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.