Man Group plc Buys Shares of 11,206 Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 11,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,255,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LAD. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the second quarter worth approximately $696,482,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at $125,214,000. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth $66,988,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the second quarter valued at about $63,015,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,814,000 after purchasing an additional 186,628 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LAD shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $490.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $436.33.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 1.0%

LAD opened at $366.72 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $239.78 and a 52 week high of $439.49. The stock has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50 day moving average of $345.73 and a 200-day moving average of $301.93.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The company had revenue of $9.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.64 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.29%.

Lithia Motors 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.