Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Receives $337.70 Average Target Price from Analysts

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $350.80.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LAD shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley raised Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,754,677.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,754,677.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,417,080.94. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,021 shares of company stock worth $6,534,617 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 3rd quarter valued at $248,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 3rd quarter valued at $234,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $335.32 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $299.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Lithia Motors has a 1-year low of $231.36 and a 1-year high of $341.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 2.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 28.74 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

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

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.