Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Makes New Investment in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,513 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in LKQ during the fourth quarter worth approximately $119,395,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in LKQ during the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,678,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in LKQ by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,571,136 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $204,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,481 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in LKQ in the 4th quarter valued at $40,363,000. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its position in LKQ by 1,008.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 964,923 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $35,461,000 after buying an additional 877,888 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at LKQ

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction of $634,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 336,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,225,233.20. This represents a 4.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,864,350. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $42.03 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.26 and a 200-day moving average of $39.12. The company has a market cap of $10.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $49.50.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.60.

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.