Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 29,306 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,963 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,306 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $19,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LAD. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Lithia Motors by 1.3% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $975,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in Lithia Motors by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 459 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 7.0% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on LAD. Stephens lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total transaction of $2,855,989.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 32,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,744,821.34. This trade represents a 21.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total value of $6,127,965.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,408,369.28. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,290 shares of company stock valued at $17,959,596. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of LAD opened at $366.26 on Friday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.00 and a 1-year high of $405.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $364.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $308.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.65.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted 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. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.24%.

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.