Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD Stock Position Cut by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 80,440 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,298 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $23,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 53.9% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Lithia Motors during the 3rd quarter worth $76,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 117.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Rare Wolf Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rare Wolf Capital LLC now owns 7,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,269,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the period. Finally, Abel Hall LLC lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 777 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LAD shares. Bank of America upped 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Lithia Motors from $409.00 to $386.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $393.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Stacy Congdon sold 75 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $852,679. The trade was a 3.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

LAD stock opened at $309.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.27. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $239.78 and a 12-month high of $439.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $321.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.77.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $10.34 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 35.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.63%.

Lithia Motors Profile

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.