Alberta Investment Management Corp Takes Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 95,041 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,493,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in LKQ by 40.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,262 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 91,386 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,648,000 after acquiring an additional 3,259 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 23,090 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $922,000 after acquiring an additional 5,286 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 257,057 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $10,262,000 after acquiring an additional 35,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 94.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,010 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on LKQ. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LKQ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.40.

LKQ Trading Up 6.0 %

NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $41.75 on Friday. LKQ Co. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $53.68. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.75. 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 market cap of $10.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 1.29.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a return on equity of 15.15% and a net margin of 4.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $180,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 369,462 shares in the company, valued at $13,352,356.68. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $781,500 in the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.