Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stock Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,134 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,056 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $14,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Abrams Capital Management L.P. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 45,856 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,340,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,662,000 after purchasing an additional 14,015 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 612,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,873,000 after purchasing an additional 33,966 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 426,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,654,000 after purchasing an additional 14,781 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 244,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,295,000 after purchasing an additional 15,832 shares in the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $295.71 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $272.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.60. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $239.78 and a 52 week high of $360.55.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.06 by $0.28. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 8.01%.

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on LAD shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $326.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Lithia Motors from $335.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, April 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 245 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.64, for a total transaction of $72,186.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,905.44. This trade represents a 11.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total transaction of $83,329.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,233.20. The trade was a 28.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 617 shares of company stock valued at $174,966. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors 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.