Visionary Horizons LLC Invests $932,000 in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Visionary Horizons LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $932,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the third quarter worth $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 114.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 88 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,383.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 89 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 106.2% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the first quarter worth about $55,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other news, Director Congdon Stacy Loretz sold 75 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $27,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $651,600. This represents a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Lithia Motors from $317.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $389.10.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 0.1%

Lithia Motors stock opened at $327.10 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $321.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 1.18. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $262.10 and a 52 week high of $405.14.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released 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. 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 firm posted $8.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 6.37%.

About Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, Inc is an American automotive retailer headquartered in Medford, Oregon. Founded in 1946 as a small auto body and glass shop, the company has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest automotive retail networks in North America. Lithia operates dealerships across the United States and Canada, offering a broad portfolio of new and pre-owned vehicles from more than 40 different manufacturers.

The company’s core business activities include vehicle sales, financing, insurance, parts and service.