Richard Bailey, Jr. Sells 297 Shares of Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Stock

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Director Richard Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 760 shares in the company, valued at $213,233.20. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $296.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $298.62. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $239.78 and a 12-month high of $360.55.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.06 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 1.88%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.66 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 8.01%.

Lithia Motors announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lithia Motors

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,062.8% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 11,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,679,000 after purchasing an additional 10,118 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,601,000. Abrams Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,490,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $787,009,000 after purchasing an additional 45,856 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 263,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,158,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter valued at about $557,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LAD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research raised Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $348.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lithia Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.30.

Lithia Motors Company 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.