Skylands Capital LLC Has $2.65 Million Stock Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Skylands Capital LLC increased its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 107.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,050 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,250 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $2,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of LKQ by 112.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 42,563 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 22,575 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $309,609,000 after acquiring an additional 833,519 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of LKQ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $634,000. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 833,015 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $30,613,000 after acquiring an additional 184,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in LKQ by 27,310.6% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 64,415 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,571,000 after buying an additional 64,180 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $781,500. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $40.49 on Monday. 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 Co. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $53.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 1.29.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, LKQ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

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.