State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 449 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,087 shares of the company’s stock after selling 449 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $3,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LAD. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Lithia Motors by 83.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 12,500.0% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at $80,000.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $370.57 on Wednesday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.00 and a 52 week high of $388.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $314.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $283.10.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. 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, equities research analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale 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 Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total transaction of $3,472,286.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,417,080.94. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total value of $2,973,697.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,235 shares of company stock valued at $9,301,973. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens raised their target price on Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.80.

Lithia Motors Profile

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.