Roth Mkm Reaffirms Buy Rating for LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Roth Mkm reissued their buy rating on shares of LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $59.00 price target on the auto parts company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded LKQ from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Barrington Research restated an outperform rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on LKQ from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $58.00.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ opened at $41.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.66. LKQ has a 1 year low of $35.57 and a 1 year high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.87 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that LKQ will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other news, CEO Justin L. Jude bought 2,500 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.91 per share, with a total value of $99,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,281,923.65. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other LKQ news, CEO Justin L. Jude bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.91 per share, with a total value of $99,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,515 shares in the company, valued at $8,281,923.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Andrew C. Clarke purchased 7,600 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.70 per share, with a total value of $301,720.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,604.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 12,600 shares of company stock valued at $500,870 over the last 90 days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the second quarter worth about $33,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in LKQ by 54.2% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 825 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of LKQ by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 900 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of LKQ in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its position in shares of LKQ by 29.8% during the 2nd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 1,211 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Company Profile

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.