Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD Holdings Lifted by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 27,407.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,795,009 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,766,671 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.35% of Lithia Motors worth $2,264,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Lithia Motors in the second quarter valued at about $696,482,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at about $125,214,000. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $66,988,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the second quarter worth approximately $63,015,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 186,628 shares in the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

NYSE:LAD opened at $358.89 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $359.28 and its 200-day moving average is $306.32. The company has a market cap of $7.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 1.00. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $239.78 and a 52-week high of $439.49.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The business had revenue of $9.79 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on LAD shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $436.33.

Lithia Motors Profile

Lithia Motors, operating under the Lithia & Driveway name, is an automotive retail company that sells new and used vehicles through a network of dealerships and digital channels. Its retail operations represent numerous automobile manufacturers and provide customers with vehicle purchasing, financing, leasing and protection products.

The company also operates parts and service departments that provide maintenance, repairs, collision work and replacement parts. Through its Driveway platform, Lithia offers online vehicle shopping, financing, trade-ins and delivery services, extending its automotive retail model beyond traditional dealership locations.

Founded in 1946 in Ashland, Oregon, Lithia Motors has expanded through acquisitions and dealership development.