Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Receives $367.22 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $367.2222.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LAD shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. 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 note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

NYSE:LAD opened at $265.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $267.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $300.11. Lithia Motors has a 1-year low of $239.78 and a 1-year high of $360.55.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.28. The company 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%.Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.66 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors will post 34.26 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 245 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.64, for a total transaction of $72,186.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,905.44. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithia Motors

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter worth $125,214,000. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,814,000 after purchasing an additional 186,628 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter worth $58,409,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 8,474.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 107,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,789,000 after purchasing an additional 106,434 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 183.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 162,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,149,000 after purchasing an additional 105,478 shares during the period.

Lithia Motors Company 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.