Caprock Group LLC Lowers Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Caprock Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 24.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,041 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 1,642 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $201,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 46.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,678 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 869.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 454,010 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $24,248,000 after acquiring an additional 407,162 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LKQ during the 1st quarter valued at about $346,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 437,221 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $23,352,000 after purchasing an additional 5,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in LKQ by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 5,249 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on LKQ. StockNews.com upgraded LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.80.

LKQ Price Performance

LKQ stock opened at $38.50 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. LKQ Co. has a 52-week low of $35.57 and a 52-week high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.01. LKQ had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 15.15%. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. LKQ’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.78%.

LKQ 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.