BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 10,100 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp cut its stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 5.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 161,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,100 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $40,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Cadian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter valued at about $105,370,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 14.7% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,390,000 after purchasing an additional 217,867 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 25.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,016,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,621,000 after purchasing an additional 203,543 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 118.9% in the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,609,000 after purchasing an additional 87,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 413.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 65,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,450,000 after purchasing an additional 52,458 shares during the period.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of LAD stock opened at $306.94 on Tuesday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.36 and a 12-month high of $331.96. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $280.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.64.

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

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 6.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total value of $2,973,697.61. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,754,677.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total value of $2,973,697.61. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sold 23,021 shares of company stock worth $6,534,617 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on LAD. Guggenheim upgraded Lithia Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $338.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $266.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens began coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.00.

About Lithia Motors

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. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.