Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings cut Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $348.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $326.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $381.44.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

NYSE LAD traded up $2.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $314.43. 158,383 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 279,332. Lithia Motors has a 1-year low of $239.78 and a 1-year high of $360.55. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $292.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.28. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 1.88%.The business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.66 EPS. Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 34.18 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total value of $83,329.29. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,233.20. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 245 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.64, for a total transaction of $72,186.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,905.44. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 782 shares of company stock worth $229,572. 1.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,062.8% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 11,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,679,000 after purchasing an additional 10,118 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter worth $58,409,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,490,000 after purchasing an additional 21,168 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 6.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 244,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,295,000 after buying an additional 15,832 shares during the period. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the third quarter valued at about $7,788,000.

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.