Jupiter Topco LLC Buys New Stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 9,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,861,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,062.8% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 11,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,679,000 after purchasing an additional 10,118 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,409,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Lithia Motors by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,490,000 after buying an additional 21,168 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG grew its position in Lithia Motors by 570.8% in the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 7,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,844,000 after buying an additional 6,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 140.7% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,787,000 after buying an additional 6,661 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on LAD. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $490.00 price objective on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.33.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $372.19 on Thursday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $239.78 and a twelve month high of $439.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The company has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $348.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $302.77.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.16%. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.24 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

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

Lithia Motors announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total value of $50,430.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $513,780.84. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

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.