Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 36,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,722,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LAD. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the second quarter valued at approximately $696,482,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,389,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,074,000 after acquiring an additional 43,087 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,814,000 after acquiring an additional 186,628 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 612,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,873,000 after acquiring an additional 33,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 426,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,654,000 after acquiring an additional 14,781 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Benchmark increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Lithia Motors from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group cut Lithia Motors from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $370.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $436.33.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:LAD opened at $366.72 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $345.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $301.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $239.78 and a one year high of $439.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The company had revenue of $9.79 billion during 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%.Lithia Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. 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. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 9.29%.

Lithia Motors announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total value of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at $513,780.84. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.