Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 160,649 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. decreased its position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 67.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 76,408 shares of the company’s stock after selling 160,649 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $22,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LAD. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 111.4% in 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 period. Quarry LP increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 109 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 1,311.1% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 127 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the business’s 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 owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $513,780.84. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of LAD opened at $370.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 1.00. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $239.78 and a 52-week high of $439.49. The firm has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s fifty day moving average is $344.32 and its 200-day moving average is $301.65.

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

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

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $490.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $370.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors presently has a consensus 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.