Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Stock Price

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price target dropped by analysts at Barclays from $375.00 to $345.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 20.40% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LAD. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $358.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $490.00 target price on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $396.10.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 1.6%

LAD stock opened at $286.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Lithia Motors has a 1 year low of $239.78 and a 1 year high of $439.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $331.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $315.40. The firm has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 9.59, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.27.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $10.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.70 by $0.64. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.06% and a return on equity of 12.05%. The business had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.75 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.50 EPS. Lithia Motors’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 35.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Stacy Congdon sold 75 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.73, for a total value of $27,804.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,679. This trade represents a 3.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the second quarter worth about $696,482,000. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $66,988,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $63,015,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,718,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $21,371,000.

About Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, Inc is an automotive retailer headquartered in Medford, Oregon. Operating under the Lithia & Driveway name, the company sells new and used vehicles through a network of franchised dealerships and digital retail channels. Its dealerships represent a broad range of domestic, Asian and European automotive brands.

In addition to vehicle sales, Lithia provides related services including vehicle financing and insurance products, parts and maintenance, collision repair, and other after-sales support.