Rare Wolf Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 5,651 Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Rare Wolf Capital LLC bought a new position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,878,000. Lithia Motors accounts for approximately 1.2% of Rare Wolf Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Lithia Motors by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 403 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 4,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total transaction of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at $513,780.84. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of Lithia Motors 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 sale, the director owned 760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,233.20. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 782 shares of company stock valued at $229,572 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Lithia Motors from $326.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Lithia Motors in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $348.00 target price on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.11.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 0.7%

Lithia Motors stock opened at $294.95 on Friday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12 month low of $239.78 and a 12 month high of $360.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $284.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.32.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.06 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 1.88%.Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.01%.

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.