Citigroup Boosts Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Price Target to $320.00

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price target lifted by Citigroup from $280.00 to $320.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on LAD. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $338.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $338.00.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD opened at $317.64 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $272.14. Lithia Motors has a fifty-two week low of $231.36 and a fifty-two week high of $331.96. The stock has a market cap of $8.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.09 by $0.78. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 2.52%. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 28.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 6.26%.

Insider Activity at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total value of $3,472,286.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,417,080.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total transaction of $3,472,286.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,417,080.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total transaction of $88,632.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,707.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,021 shares of company stock worth $6,534,617. 1.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LAD. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 30,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,971,000 after acquiring an additional 2,601 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 989.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,946,000 after purchasing an additional 13,626 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 96.8% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 610 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 12,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,953,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at $502,000.

About Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer worldwide. It operates in two segments, Vehicle Operations and Financing Operations. The company’s Vehicle Operations segment sells new and used vehicles; provides parts, repair, and maintenance services; vehicle finance; and insurance products. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.