Brookstone Capital Management Invests $604,000 in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $604,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 111.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 93 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 101.9% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total transaction of $50,430.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at $513,780.84. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total value of $83,329.29. Following the sale, the director directly owned 760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,233.20. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 782 shares of company stock worth $229,572. 1.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $291.99 on Friday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $239.78 and a 12-month high of $360.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $287.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

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

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is an increase from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LAD. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research raised Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $348.00 target price for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.11.

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.