Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 16.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,695 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,110 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $1,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 83.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in Lithia Motors by 80.2% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 12,500.0% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 1st quarter valued at $114,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $338.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $266.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $321.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total value of $3,472,286.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,417,080.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total transaction of $88,632.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,707.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total value of $3,472,286.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,417,080.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 1.9 %

Lithia Motors stock opened at $275.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.36 and a twelve month high of $331.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.95.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.09 by $0.78. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.29 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 2.52%. Lithia Motors’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 28.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.26%.

Lithia Motors Profile

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer worldwide. It operates in two segments, Vehicle Operations and Financing Operations. The company's Vehicle Operations segment sells new and used vehicles; provides parts, repair, and maintenance services; vehicle finance; and insurance products.