Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 1,974 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 10.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,489 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,974 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.09% of Lithia Motors worth $5,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $125,214,000. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,814,000 after purchasing an additional 186,628 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,409,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Lithia Motors by 8,474.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 107,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,789,000 after purchasing an additional 106,434 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 183.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 162,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,149,000 after purchasing an additional 105,478 shares in the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of LAD opened at $334.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $300.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12 month low of $239.78 and a 12 month high of $360.55.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 1.88%.Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.66 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 8.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total transaction of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $513,780.84. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total value of $83,329.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,233.20. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 782 shares of company stock valued at $229,572. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lithia Motors from $305.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Barclays lowered their price target on Lithia Motors from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.33.

About Lithia Motors

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.