JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 228,766 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,507 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $77,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 114.6% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 88 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 1,383.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 89 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Lithia Motors by 106.2% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 1st quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LAD. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $317.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings cut Lithia Motors from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $410.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $389.10.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of LAD stock opened at $318.84 on Friday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $262.10 and a 52-week high of $405.14. 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 stock has a market cap of $7.73 billion, a PE ratio of 9.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $309.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $318.61.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 13.42% and a net margin of 2.39%.The company had revenue of $9.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.21 earnings per share. Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is 6.37%.

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

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.