Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Research Coverage Started at Benchmark

Benchmark started coverage on shares of Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on LAD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $361.45.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 1.9 %

LAD opened at $342.32 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $369.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $315.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68, a P/E/G ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Lithia Motors has a 12 month low of $243.00 and a 12 month high of $405.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 29.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 7.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total transaction of $6,127,965.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,408,369.28. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total transaction of $2,855,989.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 32,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,744,821.34. This trade represents a 21.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,290 shares of company stock valued at $17,959,596 in the last quarter. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Lithia Motors by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $975,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 12.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 459 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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.