Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Receives $436.33 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $436.3333.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LAD. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $490.00 price objective on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total value of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $513,780.84. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LAD. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 113,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,272,000 after purchasing an additional 45,716 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 16.8% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 13,407 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 16.2% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $651,000.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 0.6%

LAD opened at $369.74 on Monday. Lithia Motors has a 12 month low of $239.78 and a 12 month high of $439.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $341.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $301.18. The company has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The company had revenue of $9.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.64 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 36 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 9.29%.

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.