Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Given New $325.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $320.00 to $325.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $326.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.22.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:LAD traded up $2.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $293.12. The company had a trading volume of 72,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 315,019. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $302.20. Lithia Motors has a twelve month low of $239.78 and a twelve month high of $360.55.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 34.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This is an increase from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 8.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAD. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter valued at about $125,214,000. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in Lithia Motors by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,814,000 after acquiring an additional 186,628 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter worth about $58,409,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Lithia Motors by 8,474.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 107,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,789,000 after acquiring an additional 106,434 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Lithia Motors by 183.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 162,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,149,000 after acquiring an additional 105,478 shares during the period.

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.