Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com cut shares of Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim raised their target price on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $357.60.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $382.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Lithia Motors has a 12-month low of $243.00 and a 12-month high of $388.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $326.09 and a 200 day moving average of $287.84.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lithia Motors will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 7.24%.

Insider Activity

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,754,677.36. This represents a 23.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 3,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total transaction of $1,258,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,269,320. This represents a 1.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,456 shares of company stock valued at $13,216,592. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Lithia Motors by 14.7% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,390,000 after acquiring an additional 217,867 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,016,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,621,000 after purchasing an additional 203,543 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 753,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,204,000 after purchasing an additional 85,579 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 27.5% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 365,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,997,000 after purchasing an additional 78,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tensile Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 2.4% in the third quarter. Tensile Capital Management LP now owns 261,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,071,000 after buying an additional 6,252 shares during the last quarter.

About Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer worldwide. It operates in two segments, Vehicle Operations and Financing Operations. The company’s Vehicle Operations segment sells new and used vehicles; provides parts, repair, and maintenance services; vehicle finance; and insurance products. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.