Assetmark Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Assetmark Inc. decreased its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 82.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,316 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,052 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 34.4% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 0.6% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 20,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,084,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in Lithia Motors by 114.4% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 1,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 57,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,233,000 after acquiring an additional 12,035 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LAD shares. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.80.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 0.4 %

LAD stock opened at $371.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $319.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.34. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.00 and a fifty-two week high of $388.36. 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 (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. Lithia Motors’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. 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 0.57%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.24%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the director now owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,417,080.94. The trade was a 20.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 3,313 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total value of $1,258,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 192,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,269,320. This trade represents a 1.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,394 shares of company stock valued at $16,688,879. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

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.