Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Stock Price

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $293.00 to $305.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

LAD has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $335.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $335.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $366.00 to $326.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.33.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:LAD opened at $290.26 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $267.16 and a 200 day moving average of $302.67. Lithia Motors has a 52 week low of $239.78 and a 52 week high of $360.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.22.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.28. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Lithia Motors will post 34.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 6.85%.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. AGP Franklin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 0.3% in the third quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 10,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,305,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 0.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,434,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 403 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

Lithia Motors, Inc is an American automotive retailer headquartered in Medford, Oregon. Founded in 1946 as a small auto body and glass shop, the company has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest automotive retail networks in North America. Lithia operates dealerships across the United States and Canada, offering a broad portfolio of new and pre-owned vehicles from more than 40 different manufacturers.

The company’s core business activities include vehicle sales, financing, insurance, parts and service.