Madison Asset Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 230,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,988,000. Madison Asset Management LLC owned about 1.05% of Lithia Motors at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 111.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LAD shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $490.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group lowered shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $370.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.33.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAD opened at $372.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $334.91 and a 200-day moving average of $299.76. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $239.78 and a one year high of $439.49.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.73 by $1.30. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.The company had revenue of $9.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $10.24 earnings per share. Lithia Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

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

Lithia Motors announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total value of $83,329.29. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,233.20. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at $513,780.84. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 537 shares of company stock valued at $157,385. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

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.