LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) Stock: Insider Andrew Clarke Buys 21,800 Shares

LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ) Director Andrew Clarke purchased 21,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.35 per share, with a total value of $400,030.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 56,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,043,197.50. The trade was a 62.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKQ traded down $0.67 on Tuesday, hitting $19.26. The company had a trading volume of 5,822,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,272,886. LKQ Corporation has a 1-year low of $16.85 and a 1-year high of $37.13. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 3.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. Analysts expect that LKQ Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LKQ

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,015,096,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in LKQ by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 22,556,858 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $514,973,000 after buying an additional 7,414,573 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in LKQ during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $84,795,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in LKQ in the second quarter worth approximately $76,343,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in LKQ in the second quarter worth approximately $58,221,000. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LKQ. Zacks Research lowered LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on LKQ from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Roth Capital downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Barrington Research lowered LKQ from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on LKQ from $39.00 to $36.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, LKQ has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.07.

About LKQ

LKQ Corporation is a global distributor of automotive parts and accessories. The company supplies replacement parts, components and equipment to professional repair shops, collision-repair businesses, insurers, dealerships and other commercial customers. Its product offerings include recycled original-equipment parts, aftermarket parts, specialty vehicle products, tools and equipment.

LKQ’s operations include the procurement, dismantling and distribution of salvaged vehicles, allowing it to provide recycled engines, transmissions, body panels and other components.