Independent Advisor Alliance Purchases New Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 5,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,676,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lithia Motors during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Lithia Motors during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Lithia Motors during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Lithia Motors by 75.0% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 245 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.64, for a total transaction of $72,186.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,846 shares in the company, valued at $543,905.44. This trade represents a 11.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Lithia Motors stock opened at $274.80 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $267.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.91. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $239.78 and a one year high of $360.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.28.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.28. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 1.88%.The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be 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 is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is 8.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on LAD shares. Wall Street Zen cut Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research raised Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Lithia Motors from $335.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.22.

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.