Concentric Capital Strategies LP Buys Shares of 22,688 Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Concentric Capital Strategies LP bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 22,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,540,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 111.4% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 93 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on LAD shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $348.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $326.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $335.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Seven equities 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.11.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

LAD opened at $292.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12 month low of $239.78 and a 12 month high of $360.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $298.49. The stock has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.26.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 1.88%.The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.66 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.37 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.01%.

Lithia Motors declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total transaction of $83,329.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,233.20. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 245 shares of the 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 owned 1,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,905.44. This trade represents a 11.72% decrease in their position. 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.

Lithia Motors 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.