Madison Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 230,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,988,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LAD. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Lithia Motors during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 111.4% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 93 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 1,311.1% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 127 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $213,233.20. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total transaction of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $513,780.84. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 537 shares of company stock worth $157,385 in the last ninety days. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 4.5%

Lithia Motors stock opened at $372.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $239.78 and a fifty-two week high of $439.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $334.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $299.76. The firm has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.22.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The company had revenue of $9.79 billion for 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 revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $10.24 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is 9.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group downgraded Lithia Motors from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $370.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.33.

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.