Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 3,300 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 103,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,300 shares during the quarter. Lithia Motors comprises approximately 1.1% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $30,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth $696,482,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,389,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,074,000 after purchasing an additional 43,087 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Lithia Motors during the second quarter valued at about $66,988,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $63,015,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the second quarter worth $42,718,000.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of LAD stock opened at $299.30 on Monday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $239.78 and a 1-year high of $439.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $322.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $307.92.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $10.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.70 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.75 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.06% and a return on equity of 12.05%. Lithia Motors’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.50 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 35.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.06%.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Stacy Congdon sold 75 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.73, for a total transaction of $27,804.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,679. The trade was a 3.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LAD shares. Benchmark boosted their target price on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $490.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $358.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given 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 target price of $393.80.

About Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, Inc is an automotive retailer headquartered in Medford, Oregon. Operating under the Lithia & Driveway name, the company sells new and used vehicles through a network of franchised dealerships and digital retail channels. Its dealerships represent a broad range of domestic, Asian and European automotive brands.

In addition to vehicle sales, Lithia provides related services including vehicle financing and insurance products, parts and maintenance, collision repair, and other after-sales support.