OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC Invests $504,000 in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 1,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter worth $125,214,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Lithia Motors during the second quarter valued at $63,015,000. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,814,000 after purchasing an additional 186,628 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter worth about $58,409,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 8,474.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 107,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,789,000 after buying an additional 106,434 shares during the period.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

LAD opened at $357.20 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $333.55 and its 200-day moving average is $299.43. The stock has a market cap of $7.85 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.22. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $239.78 and a twelve month high of $439.49.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.73 by $1.30. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.The business had revenue of $9.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.29%.

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LAD shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Benchmark lifted their target price on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Barclays dropped their price target on Lithia Motors from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $490.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $430.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were 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 represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total transaction of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $513,780.84. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 537 shares of company stock worth $157,385 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors 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.