Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Abrams Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.2% in the first quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,444,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,611,000 after purchasing an additional 53,490 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 10,136,710.0% during the 1st quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 2,027,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,112,000 after acquiring an additional 2,027,342 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 479,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,022,000 after acquiring an additional 11,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 8.8% in the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 376,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,508,000 after purchasing an additional 30,420 shares during the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of LAD stock opened at $318.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $7.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.23, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $310.16 and a 200-day moving average of $318.63. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $262.10 and a 12-month high of $405.14.

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

Lithia Motors declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 26th that allows the company to repurchase $750.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $440.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lithia Motors from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Lithia Motors from $383.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Lithia Motors from $385.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $317.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $389.10.

Lithia Motors Company 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.