Aristotle Capital Boston LLC Grows Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Aristotle Capital Boston LLC grew its position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,828 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,502 shares during the quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $3,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LKQ. AXA S.A. lifted its position in LKQ by 257.0% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 54,552 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,005,000 after acquiring an additional 39,272 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 6,779 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in LKQ by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 18,357 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 2,727 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its stake in LKQ by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 121,978 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,483,000 after buying an additional 25,615 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in LKQ by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 135,817 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,971,000 after buying an additional 55,324 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LKQ shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. 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, LKQ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

LKQ Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $39.34 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.14. The stock has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. LKQ Co. has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $46.64.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. LKQ’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. LKQ’s payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total transaction of $416,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 359,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,975,186.92. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Justin L. Jude bought 2,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $36.99 per share, with a total value of $100,168.92. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 280,777 shares in the company, valued at $10,385,941.23. The trade was a 0.97 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,054,450 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.55% 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.