Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC Invests $400,000 in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,062.8% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 11,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,679,000 after acquiring an additional 10,118 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at $58,409,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,490,000 after purchasing an additional 21,168 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG raised its position in Lithia Motors by 570.8% in the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 7,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,844,000 after purchasing an additional 6,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 115,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,459,000 after purchasing an additional 37,938 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total value of $50,430.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $513,780.84. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on LAD. Barclays increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.33.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of LAD opened at $372.35 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $339.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $239.78 and a 52 week high of $439.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.73 by $1.30. The company had revenue of $9.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This is a boost from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.29%.

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.