Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 15.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 87,215 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 16,065 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $3,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in LKQ by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,897,480 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,650,234,000 after acquiring an additional 656,883 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in LKQ by 7.9% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,944,496 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $496,772,000 after buying an additional 875,420 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in LKQ by 9.5% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,220,571 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $438,108,000 after buying an additional 712,698 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in LKQ by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,396,653 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $396,461,000 after acquiring an additional 103,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,398,538 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $182,936,000 after acquiring an additional 253,639 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $36.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. LKQ Co. has a twelve month low of $35.57 and a twelve month high of $53.68. The company has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.77 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.62.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 15.15% and a net margin of 4.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. Analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKQ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, LKQ currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.80.

LKQ Profile

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.