Barrington Research Weighs in on LKQ Co.’s Q1 2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:LKQ)

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) – Barrington Research cut their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for shares of LKQ in a research note issued on Tuesday, March 26th. Barrington Research analyst G. Prestopino now expects that the auto parts company will post earnings of $0.95 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.98. Barrington Research currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for LKQ’s current full-year earnings is $4.06 per share. Barrington Research also issued estimates for LKQ’s Q3 2024 earnings at $1.05 EPS.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The auto parts company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.52 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 17.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.50.

LKQ Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ opened at $53.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $50.08 and a 200 day moving average of $48.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.47. LKQ has a one year low of $41.49 and a one year high of $59.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cadence Bank boosted its stake in LKQ by 2.0% during the second quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 11,204 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in LKQ by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 777 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in LKQ by 4.5% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 5,433 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 9,977 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 1.4% during the third quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 17,470 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $865,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In related news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total value of $10,394,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 386,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,087,548.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.29%.

About LKQ

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.