LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,070,000 shares, a decrease of 17.4% from the November 15th total of 4,930,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

LKQ Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $37.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.30. LKQ has a fifty-two week low of $35.57 and a fifty-two week high of $53.68. The stock has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.29.

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

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LKQ shares. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, LKQ has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.80.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LKQ in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,601,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 3,683.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 274,577 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $11,420,000 after purchasing an additional 267,320 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in LKQ by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 65,548 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,726,000 after buying an additional 14,573 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 2.6% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,317,672 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $54,802,000 after acquiring an additional 33,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Regatta Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in LKQ by 3.0% in the third quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 19,132 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

About LKQ

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.