Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Raises Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 679,430 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 10,912 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $27,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in LKQ during the second quarter worth about $3,839,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 91.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 582,953 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $31,136,000 after purchasing an additional 277,700 shares during the last quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LKQ in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,419,000. TCW Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of LKQ in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,601,000. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in LKQ during the first quarter worth approximately $20,555,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.80.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ opened at $38.20 on Friday. LKQ Co. has a 1 year low of $35.57 and a 1 year high of $53.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.00.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.01. LKQ had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 15.15%. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.78%.

About LKQ

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.