Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD Shares Purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 6.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 244,598 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,832 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $77,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 13.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,487,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 67.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 113,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,272,000 after acquiring an additional 45,716 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 16.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 93,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,349,000 after acquiring an additional 13,407 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 13.5% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 479,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,022,000 after purchasing an additional 11,859 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LAD shares. Bank of America started coverage on Lithia Motors in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $390.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $399.00 to $366.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $440.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $382.33.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of LAD opened at $250.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.20. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.01 and a 12-month high of $360.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $303.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $315.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $6.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.09 by ($1.35). Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 2.18%.The company had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.85%.

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.