Paragon Capital Management Ltd Makes New Investment in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Paragon Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,313 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LKQ. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 104.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 977 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 299.6% during the first quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,135 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 107.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 56.2% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,971 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.15, for a total transaction of $632,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 321,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,535,840.25. This represents a 4.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Justin L. Jude purchased 2,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $36.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,168.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 280,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,385,941.23. The trade was a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $39.04 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.60. LKQ Co. has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $46.64. The company has a market capitalization of $10.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 0.98. 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 (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

LKQ Profile

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.