Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD Shares Purchased by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 1.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 86,520 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,414 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $21,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 8.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 22.5% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 159,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,796,000 after acquiring an additional 29,308 shares in the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 263.7% during the 1st quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 4,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 3,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 1st quarter valued at about $834,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LAD shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lithia Motors presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $425.20.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Richard J. 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,233.20. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 245 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.64, for a total value of $72,186.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $543,905.44. The trade was a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 782 shares of company stock worth $229,572 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $368.16 on Thursday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $239.78 and a 52-week high of $439.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $319.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $296.58.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. 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%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 9.29%.

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Lithia Motors

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.