Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Price Target Raised to $455.00 at Citigroup

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its target price raised by stock analysts at Citigroup from $365.00 to $455.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.40% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on LAD. Benchmark lifted their target price on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $370.00 to $440.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $423.70.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD stock traded down $4.34 on Monday, hitting $381.08. 220,389 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 322,727. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Lithia Motors has a 52 week low of $239.78 and a 52 week high of $439.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $295.79. The firm has a market cap of $8.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.26.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The company had revenue of $9.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.16%. Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lithia Motors will post 34.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 245 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.64, for a total value of $72,186.80. Following the sale, the director 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. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total transaction of $83,329.29. Following the transaction, the director directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 782 shares of company stock worth $229,572 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,389,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,074,000 after purchasing an additional 43,087 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Lithia Motors by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,814,000 after buying an additional 186,628 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 612,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,873,000 after acquiring an additional 33,966 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.6% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 426,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,654,000 after acquiring an additional 14,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $125,214,000.

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.