Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD Position Reduced by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 239,030 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,270 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.99% of Lithia Motors worth $79,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LAD. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at about $383,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 32,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,934,000 after acquiring an additional 9,614 shares in the last quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. now owns 3,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,679,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HRT Financial LP grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 39,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,986,000 after acquiring an additional 13,212 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 245 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.64, for a total value of $72,186.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,846 shares in the company, valued at $543,905.44. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total value of $83,329.29. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,233.20. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 707 shares of company stock worth $205,947 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group started coverage on Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $348.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on Lithia Motors from $335.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.11.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Lithia Motors stock opened at $313.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $281.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $298.85. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $239.78 and a 52 week high of $360.55.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.06 by $0.28. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 1.88%.The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 8.01%.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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.