Everence Capital Management Inc. Invests $232,000 in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LAD. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 49.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at about $80,000.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total transaction of $2,855,989.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 32,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,744,821.34. This trade represents a 21.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.72, for a total transaction of $392,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,466.16. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 47,290 shares of company stock valued at $17,959,596. Insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LAD. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.45.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 1.0 %

Lithia Motors stock opened at $348.34 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.18. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.00 and a fifty-two week high of $405.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $368.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $314.91.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.24%.

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.