Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Receives $319.45 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $319.45.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LAD shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 138 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.42, for a total transaction of $35,109.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,847.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LAD. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,608,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 35,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,385,000 after purchasing an additional 8,862 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,746,000 after purchasing an additional 4,737 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 95.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 12,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,736,000 after purchasing an additional 6,181 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 9,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,780,000 after purchasing an additional 4,541 shares during the period.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE LAD opened at $266.94 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $257.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $278.27. Lithia Motors has a one year low of $231.36 and a one year high of $331.96.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $6.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.85 by ($1.74). The business had revenue of $8.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 15.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.44 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Lithia Motors will post 28.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 6.26%.

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.