Key Points
- Director Congdon Stacy Loretz sold 75 shares of Lithia Motors at $315.00 each, totaling $23,625. After the sale, the director still owned 2,375 shares, and the transaction was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
- Lithia Motors reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $7.34 beating estimates of $7.06 and revenue of $9.27 billion slightly topping expectations. Revenue rose 1.0% year over year, and analysts now expect full-year EPS of 34.37.
- The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.57 from $0.55 and authorized a $500 million share buyback, signaling confidence in the stock. Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive, with an average price target of $368.11.
Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) Director Congdon Stacy Loretz sold 75 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $23,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,375 shares in the company, valued at $748,125. This represents a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Lithia Motors Stock Down 1.2%
LAD stock opened at $309.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12 month low of $239.78 and a 12 month high of $360.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $282.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $298.75.
Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.49%. Lithia Motors's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.66 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Lithia Motors Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Lithia Motors's payout ratio is currently 8.01%.
Lithia Motors announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
LAD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $326.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $368.11.
Read Our Latest Research Report on LAD
Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abrams Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,490,534 shares of the company's stock worth $787,009,000 after buying an additional 45,856 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,389,870 shares of the company's stock worth $347,074,000 after buying an additional 43,087 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company's stock worth $246,814,000 after buying an additional 186,628 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 612,377 shares of the company's stock worth $206,873,000 after buying an additional 33,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 426,120 shares of the company's stock worth $134,654,000 after buying an additional 14,781 shares during the last quarter.
About Lithia Motors
(
Get Free Report)
Lithia Motors, Inc is an American automotive retailer headquartered in Medford, Oregon. Founded in 1946 as a small auto body and glass shop, the company has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest automotive retail networks in North America. Lithia operates dealerships across the United States and Canada, offering a broad portfolio of new and pre-owned vehicles from more than 40 different manufacturers.
The company's core business activities include vehicle sales, financing, insurance, parts and service.
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