Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Stock Price

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price objective reduced by Citigroup from $455.00 to $409.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 29.00% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on LAD. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $370.00 to $440.00 in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $490.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $431.22.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of LAD opened at $317.06 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $361.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $308.79. Lithia Motors has a 52 week low of $239.78 and a 52 week high of $439.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The firm had revenue of $9.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stacy Congdon sold 75 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.73, for a total transaction of $27,804.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,300 shares in the company, valued at $852,679. This represents a 3.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,490,000 after acquiring an additional 21,168 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 570.8% during the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 7,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,844,000 after acquiring an additional 6,285 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 193.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 60,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,219,000 after acquiring an additional 39,624 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Lithia Motors during the second quarter worth about $901,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Lithia Motors during the second quarter worth about $696,482,000.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

Lithia Motors, operating under the Lithia & Driveway name, is an automotive retail company that sells new and used vehicles through a network of dealerships and digital channels. Its retail operations represent numerous automobile manufacturers and provide customers with vehicle purchasing, financing, leasing and protection products.

The company also operates parts and service departments that provide maintenance, repairs, collision work and replacement parts. Through its Driveway platform, Lithia offers online vehicle shopping, financing, trade-ins and delivery services, extending its automotive retail model beyond traditional dealership locations.

Founded in 1946 in Ashland, Oregon, Lithia Motors has expanded through acquisitions and dealership development.