Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Receives $436.33 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $436.3333.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LAD. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $490.00 target price on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of LAD stock opened at $370.63 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $344.32 and a 200-day moving average of $301.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Lithia Motors has a one year low of $239.78 and a one year high of $439.49.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.73 by $1.30. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.16%. The firm had revenue of $9.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were given 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 a boost from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 9.29%.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $513,780.84. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithia Motors

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAD. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 27,407.3% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,795,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,264,372,000 after acquiring an additional 7,766,671 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth $696,482,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter worth about $125,214,000. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter worth about $66,988,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,015,000.

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.