Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on LAD. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $355.00 to $293.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $366.00 to $326.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $335.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.00.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 0.6%

LAD stock opened at $274.81 on Thursday. Lithia Motors has a fifty-two week low of $239.78 and a fifty-two week high of $360.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $268.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $303.17.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $6.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.09 by ($1.35). The business had revenue of $9.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.19 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The company’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 34.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.85%.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LAD. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,487,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 113,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,272,000 after buying an additional 45,716 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 93,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,349,000 after buying an additional 13,407 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the second quarter valued at about $651,000.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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.