Vise Technologies Inc. Buys New Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,056,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 10,136,710.0% in the first quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 2,027,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,112,000 after buying an additional 2,027,342 shares during the period. Park West Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the first quarter worth about $58,825,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 1,840.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 181,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,359,000 after acquiring an additional 172,410 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the first quarter valued at $32,824,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,267,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,053,000 after acquiring an additional 72,980 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LAD. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lithia Motors from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Lithia Motors from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $383.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Lithia Motors from $385.00 to $399.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $383.10.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

LAD stock traded down $1.99 during trading on Thursday, reaching $297.93. 6,980 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 328,371. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $262.10 and a twelve month high of $405.67. The company has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $318.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $318.40.

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

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

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

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 26th that allows the company to buyback $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.