Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $346.00 to $397.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 4.36% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on LAD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $405.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Benchmark assumed coverage on Lithia Motors in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Stephens boosted their target price on Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.50.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 1.1 %

LAD stock opened at $380.41 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $363.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $334.89. Lithia Motors has a fifty-two week low of $243.00 and a fifty-two week high of $405.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. Analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 29.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, COO Adam Chamberlain sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.28, for a total transaction of $154,864.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,605 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.86, for a total transaction of $92,652.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,729 shares in the company, valued at $661,964.94. This trade represents a 12.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,339 shares of company stock valued at $7,997,621 over the last 90 days. 1.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lithia Motors

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LAD. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $152,752,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $113,250,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $91,190,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $46,505,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,960.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 126,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,311,000 after purchasing an additional 120,749 shares during the last quarter.

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.