Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Price Target to $355.00

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $358.00 to $355.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.44% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $410.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Evercore lifted their target price on Lithia Motors from $440.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $390.40.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAD traded down $4.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $315.72. 21,992 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 263,970. The company has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a PE ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.20. Lithia Motors has a twelve month low of $262.10 and a twelve month high of $389.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $334.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $320.94.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $6.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.17 by ($1.43). Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 13.42%. The firm had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors will post 34.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Congdon Stacy Loretz sold 75 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $27,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,810 shares in the company, valued at $651,600. This trade represents a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.87% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Abrams Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.9% in the third quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,490,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $787,009,000 after buying an additional 45,856 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 1.1% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,340,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,662,000 after purchasing an additional 14,015 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 5.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 612,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,873,000 after purchasing an additional 33,966 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 479,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,022,000 after buying an additional 11,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth $148,540,000.

More Lithia Motors News

Here are the key news stories impacting Lithia Motors this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company highlighted record full-year revenue, strength in aftersales and Driveway Finance improvements; management also disclosed $947M of share repurchases in 2025 and strategic acquisitions adding ~$2.4B of annual revenue — these are shareholder-friendly items that support longer-term cash generation and earnings capacity. Press Release / Slide Deck
• Positive Sentiment: Lithia announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55/share (record March 6, payable March 20), which adds steady income return and may support the share base. (Company announcement)
• Positive Sentiment: Driveway Finance produced record quarterly income ($23M) and reported a 15.0% penetration rate with strong average FICO — helps diversify and stabilize margins versus retail vehicle volatility. Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Top-line performance was broadly flat: Q4 revenue ~$9.20B was essentially in line with consensus (some outlets call it a slight beat, others a miss), showing modest sequential growth but limited same-store upside. MarketBeat Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/market commentary and valuation pieces are being published assessing the recent pullback and whether the stock pricing now reflects the company’s balance of acquisition-fueled growth vs. margin pressure. Yahoo Valuation Piece
• Negative Sentiment: Major negative: GAAP EPS of $6.74 missed consensus (~$8.10–$8.17), down from $7.79 a year ago — the EPS shortfall is the primary driver of the share decline as it raises near‑term earnings risk. Zacks: Missed EPS
• Negative Sentiment: Some outlets flagged misses or mixed signals on revenue/operational metrics and noted the YoY EPS decline — this drives analyst re‑ratings and short-term selling pressure while investors await management’s forward commentary. MSN Coverage

About Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, Inc is an American automotive retailer headquartered in Medford, Oregon. Founded in 1946 as a small auto body and glass shop, the company has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest automotive retail networks in North America. Lithia operates dealerships across the United States and Canada, offering a broad portfolio of new and pre-owned vehicles from more than 40 different manufacturers.

The company’s core business activities include vehicle sales, financing, insurance, parts and service.