Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 3,080 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 38.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,958 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,080 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $1,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in Lithia Motors by 4.6% during the second quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP boosted its position in Lithia Motors by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 4,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 32.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $490.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $370.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In related news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 760 shares in the company, valued at $213,233.20. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total value of $50,430.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $513,780.84. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 537 shares of company stock valued at $157,385 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD stock opened at $357.20 on Wednesday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $239.78 and a fifty-two week high of $439.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $333.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $299.43.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The firm had revenue of $9.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.16%. Lithia Motors’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is 9.29%.

Lithia Motors announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.