Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Invests $731,000 in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $731,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 83.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Lithia Motors during the third quarter worth about $35,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 12,500.0% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.72, for a total value of $392,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,466.16. The trade was a 8.77 % 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 15,846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total transaction of $6,127,965.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,408,369.28. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,067 shares of company stock valued at $20,933,294 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $386.16 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.25. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $243.00 and a one year high of $405.67. The company has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18, a P/E/G ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 1.63.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.60.

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.