Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Invests $80,000 in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 96.8% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 610 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $502,000. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $147,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Lithia Motors by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,568,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 45,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,898,000 after buying an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD opened at $310.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $290.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $273.03. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.36 and a 1-year high of $331.96. The company has a market cap of $8.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.09 by $0.78. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 13.84%. Lithia Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.91 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 28.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley raised Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $266.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $338.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total value of $3,472,286.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,417,080.94. This represents a 0.00 % 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 this link. In other news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total transaction of $3,472,286.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at $13,417,080.94. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total value of $2,973,697.61. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,021 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,617. 1.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.