LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Announces $0.30 Quarterly Dividend

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the auto parts company on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th.

LKQ has raised its dividend payment by an average of 68.7% annually over the last three years. LKQ has a dividend payout ratio of 31.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect LKQ to earn $4.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.9%.

LKQ Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ opened at $44.05 on Tuesday. LKQ has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $53.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.90.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LKQ will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $180,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 369,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,352,356.68. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LKQ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

About LKQ

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.