Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Stock Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,399 shares of the company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 12.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 753,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,204,000 after purchasing an additional 85,579 shares during the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter worth about $113,250,000. Tensile Capital Management LP raised its position in Lithia Motors by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tensile Capital Management LP now owns 261,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,071,000 after buying an additional 6,252 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 259,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,560,000 after acquiring an additional 37,677 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at about $91,190,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithia Motors news, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.86, for a total value of $126,054.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $645,786.90. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 248 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.84, for a total transaction of $72,128.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $377,219.48. This trade represents a 16.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,246 shares of company stock valued at $433,724. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.36.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAD opened at $320.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.69. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.00 and a 1-year high of $405.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $344.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $342.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its 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 net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 12.43%. Research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.14%.

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.