LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.60.

Several research firms recently issued reports on LKQ. StockNews.com downgraded shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total transaction of $10,394,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,087,548.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LKQ

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. CWM LLC raised its stake in LKQ by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,581 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in LKQ by 90.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 843 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co. raised its stake in LKQ by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 18,429 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $912,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in LKQ by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 81,945 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,056,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in LKQ by 119.9% in the 3rd quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,370 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 6,200 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $43.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.28. LKQ has a 52 week low of $41.30 and a 52 week high of $59.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $50.72 and a 200-day moving average of $48.18.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.13). LKQ had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that LKQ will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.96%.

LKQ Company Profile

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.