Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,748,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Lithia Motors by 1,062.8% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 11,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,679,000 after buying an additional 10,118 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter worth about $58,409,000. Tabor Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,722,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,490,000 after acquiring an additional 21,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 142,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,959,000 after acquiring an additional 16,226 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Lithia Motors from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $326.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.11.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $290.19 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $288.05 and a 200 day moving average of $296.47. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $239.78 and a 52 week high of $360.55. The company has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

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

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

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

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 760 shares in the company, valued at $213,233.20. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 245 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 1,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,905.44. The trade was a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 782 shares of company stock valued at $229,572. 1.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.