Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 144 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,707 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 144 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $1,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,519,000 after purchasing an additional 2,686 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 208,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,664,000 after purchasing an additional 9,296 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter valued at about $232,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 82,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,734,000 after purchasing an additional 33,405 shares during the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

NYSE LAD opened at $262.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.74, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $274.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.63. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.36 and a twelve month high of $331.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is 6.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $266.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $327.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total transaction of $88,632.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,707.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total transaction of $88,632.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,707.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 transaction of $3,472,286.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at $13,417,080.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

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.