Amalgamated Bank Sells 237 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Amalgamated Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,958 shares of the company’s stock after selling 237 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $4,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 50.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 4.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 119,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 12.1% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 47.8% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 5,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928 shares during the period.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 0.1%

LAD stock opened at $314.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.28. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $262.10 and a one year high of $405.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $323.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $318.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $9.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.97. The firm had revenue of $9.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.38 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 13.42%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 26th that permits the company to repurchase $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 6.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $383.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $385.00 to $399.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $380.11.

Lithia Motors Profile

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.