New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $24.90 Million Stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,631 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,961 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.27% of Lithia Motors worth $24,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LAD. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the third quarter worth approximately $325,000. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 67.2% in the third quarter. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,178 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.4% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 5,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,697,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California First Leasing Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 27.0% in the third quarter. California First Leasing Corp now owns 7,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LAD. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $297.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $290.00 to $248.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $320.82.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 135 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.84, for a total transaction of $40,208.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $495,010.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD stock opened at $262.72 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $283.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $283.67. The stock has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a PE ratio of 7.76, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.58. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.69 and a 52-week high of $331.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $6.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.85 by ($1.74). The firm had revenue of $8.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 2.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.78 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.90%.

Lithia Motors 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.