Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Position Trimmed by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,275 shares of the company’s stock after selling 148 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Lithia Motors Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $359.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $360.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $305.58. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.00 and a 52-week high of $405.67. The firm has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 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, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.24%.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other news, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.72, for a total value of $392,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,085,466.16. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total transaction of $6,127,965.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,924 shares in the company, valued at $80,408,369.28. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,290 shares of company stock worth $17,959,596. 1.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on LAD. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.60.

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.