Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $8.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61, Briefing.com reports. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

LAD traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, reaching $335.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 450,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,718. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $299.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.82. Lithia Motors has a 1 year low of $231.36 and a 1 year high of $341.84. The company has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total value of $3,472,286.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,417,080.94. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total value of $3,472,286.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,417,080.94. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,754,677.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,021 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,617 in the last ninety days. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LAD shares. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $350.80.

About Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer worldwide. It operates in two segments, Vehicle Operations and Financing Operations. The company’s Vehicle Operations segment sells new and used vehicles; provides parts, repair, and maintenance services; vehicle finance; and insurance products. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.