Strs Ohio Sells 803 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Strs Ohio cut its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,505 shares of the company’s stock after selling 803 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $1,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Abrams Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.2% during the first quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,444,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,611,000 after buying an additional 53,490 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 10,136,710.0% during the first quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 2,027,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,112,000 after buying an additional 2,027,342 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 6.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,267,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,053,000 after buying an additional 72,980 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 8.8% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 376,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,508,000 after buying an additional 30,420 shares during the period. Finally, Advent International L.P. increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 32.1% during the first quarter. Advent International L.P. now owns 286,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,183,000 after buying an additional 69,635 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on Lithia Motors from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $385.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $383.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.11.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of LAD opened at $297.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $322.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $318.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $262.10 and a 1 year high of $405.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.97. The business had revenue of $9.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.38 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 13.42% and a net margin of 2.39%.Lithia Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.21 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.37%.

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 26th that permits the company to repurchase $750.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Lithia Motors

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.