OneAscent Wealth Management LLC Invests $232,000 in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

OneAscent Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 14.7% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,390,000 after acquiring an additional 217,867 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 25.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,016,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,621,000 after purchasing an additional 203,543 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 118.9% in the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,609,000 after acquiring an additional 87,362 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,071,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Lithia Motors by 27.5% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 365,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,997,000 after acquiring an additional 78,784 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other 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 transaction of $3,472,286.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at $13,417,080.94. This trade represents a 20.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 3,313 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total transaction of $1,258,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 192,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,269,320. This trade represents a 1.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,394 shares of company stock valued at $16,688,879 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LAD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $353.80.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $373.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $321.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $286.43. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.00 and a 1 year high of $388.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 7.24%.

Lithia Motors Profile

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.