LKQ’s (LKQ) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Barrington Research

Barrington Research reissued their outperform rating on shares of LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Barrington Research currently has a $60.00 target price on the auto parts company’s stock.

LKQ has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

LKQ Trading Down 3.0 %

LKQ stock opened at $40.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. LKQ has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $53.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.76.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. On average, equities analysts predict that LKQ will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $180,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 369,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,352,356.68. The trade was a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $781,500 over the last three months. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LKQ during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 94.2% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,010 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 31.2% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of LKQ in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LKQ Company Profile

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.