Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

LAD has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $357.60.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAD opened at $344.25 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.67. Lithia Motors has a 12 month low of $243.00 and a 12 month high of $405.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $368.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $314.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 29.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total transaction of $2,855,989.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 32,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,744,821.34. This represents a 21.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 owns 10,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,466.16. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,290 shares of company stock worth $17,959,596 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Lithia Motors by 49.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 23.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Lithia Motors in the second quarter worth about $80,000.

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.