M&T Bank Corp Has $607,000 Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,911 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LAD. Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,722,000. Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the third quarter valued at approximately $507,000. Tensile Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.4% in the third quarter. Tensile Capital Management LP now owns 261,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,071,000 after buying an additional 6,252 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 122.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 17,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,484,000 after buying an additional 9,490 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter valued at $720,000.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of LAD stock opened at $370.93 on Wednesday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $243.00 and a one year high of $405.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $355.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $303.37. The stock has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.65.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.24%.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total transaction of $6,127,965.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,924 shares in the company, valued at $80,408,369.28. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total value of $2,855,989.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 32,054 shares in the company, valued at $10,744,821.34. This trade represents a 21.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,290 shares of company stock worth $17,959,596. Insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on LAD. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Stephens lifted their price target on Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.60.

Lithia Motors Profile

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer worldwide. It operates in two segments, Vehicle Operations and Financing Operations. The company’s Vehicle Operations segment sells new and used vehicles; provides parts, repair, and maintenance services; vehicle finance; and insurance products. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.