Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $380.00 to $418.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Lithia Motors traded as high as $390.00 and last traded at $388.71, with a volume of 9860 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $382.50.

LAD has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $357.60.

Insider Activity at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,754,677.36. This represents a 23.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total transaction of $6,127,965.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,408,369.28. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,698 shares of company stock worth $13,309,244 in the last ninety days. 1.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithia Motors

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,390,000 after purchasing an additional 217,867 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 25.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,016,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,621,000 after buying an additional 203,543 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 1,960.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 126,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,311,000 after buying an additional 120,749 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its position in Lithia Motors by 5,233.4% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 107,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,187,000 after buying an additional 105,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 118.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,609,000 after acquiring an additional 87,362 shares during the period.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 2.2 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $330.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $289.40. The firm has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.25 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 7.24%.

Lithia Motors Company 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.