Postrock Partners LLC Invests $606,000 in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Postrock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 16,479 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $606,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of LKQ in the third quarter worth $45,733,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in LKQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,363,000. Seizert Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of LKQ by 451.1% during the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,327,664 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,000,000 after buying an additional 1,086,758 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $309,609,000 after buying an additional 833,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,210,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $44,492,000 after acquiring an additional 492,356 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LKQ. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total value of $634,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 336,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,225,233.20. This trade represents a 4.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $41.28 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.09 and a 200 day moving average of $38.95. LKQ Co. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $53.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.27.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

LKQ 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.