Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Receives $357.60 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $357.60.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LAD shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Stephens increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD stock opened at $344.25 on Wednesday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $243.00 and a fifty-two week high of $405.67. The firm has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $368.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $314.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In related news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,408,369.28. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.86, for a total transaction of $92,652.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $661,964.94. The trade was a 12.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,290 shares of company stock worth $17,959,596. 1.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithia Motors

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAD. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at about $232,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 259,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,560,000 after purchasing an additional 37,677 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 46.9% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 75,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,136,000 after purchasing an additional 24,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 95,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,585,000 after buying an additional 2,261 shares during the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Company 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.