Brokerages Set Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) PT at $357.60

Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $357.60.

Several research analysts have weighed in on LAD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 3,313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total transaction of $1,258,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,814 shares in the company, valued at $73,269,320. The trade was a 1.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total value 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 $10,744,821.34. This represents a 21.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,290 shares of company stock worth $17,959,596 in the last quarter. 1.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cetera Investment Advisers grew 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 buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 2.6% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in Lithia Motors by 12.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 7.0% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of LAD stock opened at $380.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $353.97 and a 200-day moving average of $301.76. Lithia Motors has a one year low of $243.00 and a one year high of $405.67. The company has a market cap of $10.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.65.

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

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. 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 0.56%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.