Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) CEO Sells $2,696,800.00 in Stock

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 6,742 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,696,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,778,000. This represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 1.2 %

Lithia Motors stock opened at $386.16 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $334.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $291.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.00 and a twelve month high of $405.67. The company has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a P/E/G ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.63.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. Lithia Motors’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.24%.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 83.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 12,500.0% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the second quarter valued at about $80,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LAD shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $357.60.

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.