LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) to Issue $0.30 Quarterly Dividend

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 22nd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share by the auto parts company on Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th.

LKQ has a payout ratio of 26.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect LKQ to earn $4.49 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.7%.

LKQ Stock Down 14.9 %

LKQ stock opened at $41.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. LKQ has a 1-year low of $41.46 and a 1-year high of $59.38.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 17.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that LKQ will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LKQ news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total value of $10,394,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,087,548.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

About LKQ

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.