Lithia Motors’ (LAD) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Benchmark restated their buy rating on shares of Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $400.00 target price on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim raised their price target on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.36.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $360.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $362.73 and a 200-day moving average of $337.33. Lithia Motors has a 52-week low of $243.00 and a 52-week high of $405.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.43% and a net margin of 2.21%. Equities research analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 34.45 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Adam Chamberlain sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.28, for a total transaction of $154,864.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,049.40. This represents a 13.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.86, for a total value of $126,054.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $645,786.90. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,470 shares of company stock valued at $3,370,439 in the last ninety days. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Lithia Motors by 69.9% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 124 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,420.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter.

About Lithia Motors

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.