Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Director Sells $27,804.75 in Stock

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Director Stacy Congdon sold 75 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.73, for a total value of $27,804.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $852,679. This represents a 3.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $339.45 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $361.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $307.88. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $239.78 and a 52 week high of $439.49.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 9.29%.

Lithia Motors announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 32.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 173 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.6% during the second quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 1,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 111.4% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 93 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.6% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America raised their price target on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group lowered 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 note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Lithia Motors from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.33.

About Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, operating under the Lithia & Driveway name, is an automotive retail company that sells new and used vehicles through a network of dealerships and digital channels. Its retail operations represent numerous automobile manufacturers and provide customers with vehicle purchasing, financing, leasing and protection products.

The company also operates parts and service departments that provide maintenance, repairs, collision work and replacement parts. Through its Driveway platform, Lithia offers online vehicle shopping, financing, trade-ins and delivery services, extending its automotive retail model beyond traditional dealership locations.

Founded in 1946 in Ashland, Oregon, Lithia Motors has expanded through acquisitions and dealership development.