Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Monday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on Lithia Motors from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.33.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

NYSE:LAD opened at $340.60 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.26. Lithia Motors has a 12 month low of $239.78 and a 12 month high of $360.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $299.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.79.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.06 by $0.28. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 34.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is 8.01%.

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In related news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total value of $83,329.29. Following the transaction, the director owned 760 shares in the company, valued at $213,233.20. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total value of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $513,780.84. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 782 shares of company stock valued at $229,572 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter worth $125,214,000. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,814,000 after purchasing an additional 186,628 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter worth $58,409,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 8,474.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 107,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,789,000 after purchasing an additional 106,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 183.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 162,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,149,000 after purchasing an additional 105,478 shares during the period.

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.