Point72 DIFC Ltd Buys Shares of 567 Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 30,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,971,000 after buying an additional 2,601 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 989.5% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,946,000 after acquiring an additional 13,626 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 96.8% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 12,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,953,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at $502,000.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of LAD stock opened at $320.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.36 and a 52 week 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. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $284.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $272.12.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.91 EPS. Analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 28.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

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 $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 6.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total value of $88,632.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,707.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total value of $88,632.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,707.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,021 shares of company stock worth $6,534,617 in the last 90 days. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $338.00.

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