Lithia Motors, Inc. (LAD) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 6th

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of 0.55 per share on Friday, March 20th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th.

Lithia Motors has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Lithia Motors has a payout ratio of 5.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Lithia Motors to earn $40.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.5%.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $303.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $334.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $320.82. Lithia Motors has a twelve month low of $262.10 and a twelve month high of $389.61. The firm has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.20.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $6.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.09 by ($1.35). The business had revenue of $9.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.19 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 2.18%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 34.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on LAD. Barclays cut their target price on Lithia Motors from $410.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Lithia Motors from $355.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $358.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $385.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $389.90.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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.