LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.60.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LKQ. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Friday, April 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Xavier Urbain sold 867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total transaction of $38,581.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,467. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in LKQ by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,897,480 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,650,234,000 after buying an additional 656,883 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,307,753 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $540,398,000 after acquiring an additional 977,585 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,251,102 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $537,690,000 after acquiring an additional 626,010 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in LKQ by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,907,659 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $490,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,122 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in LKQ by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,113,931 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $486,775,000 after purchasing an additional 111,124 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LKQ Price Performance

LKQ stock opened at $42.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.70. LKQ has a one year low of $39.72 and a one year high of $59.38. The company has a market cap of $11.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $42.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.81.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that LKQ will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. LKQ’s payout ratio is currently 38.96%.

LKQ Company Profile

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.