OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $504,000 Investment in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,062.8% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 11,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,679,000 after purchasing an additional 10,118 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,409,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,490,000 after acquiring an additional 21,168 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 570.8% in the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 7,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,844,000 after acquiring an additional 6,285 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 48.8% in the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 115,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,459,000 after purchasing an additional 37,938 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LAD shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $490.00 target price on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $430.22.

Insider Activity at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total value of $83,329.29. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,233.20. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total transaction of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $513,780.84. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 537 shares of company stock worth $157,385 over the last 90 days. 1.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

NYSE:LAD opened at $357.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The company has a market cap of $7.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.22. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $239.78 and a fifty-two week high of $439.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $333.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.43.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The firm had revenue of $9.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.16%. Lithia Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.24 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.29%.

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Lithia Motors

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.