Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Raises Dividend to $0.75 Per Share

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, October 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share on Friday, November 20th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. This is a 7.1% increase from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70.

Lithia Motors has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Lithia Motors has a payout ratio of 8.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Lithia Motors to earn $40.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 7.5%.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 3.5%

Lithia Motors stock opened at $298.87 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $319.73 and a 200-day moving average of $307.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Lithia Motors has a twelve month low of $239.78 and a twelve month high of $439.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 8.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.30.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $10.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.70 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.75 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.06% and a return on equity of 12.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 35.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Benchmark increased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Lithia Motors from $335.00 to $305.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Lithia Motors from $409.00 to $386.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $393.80.

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.