Islay Capital Management LLC Makes New $559,000 Investment in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Islay Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 15,204 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LKQ. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its stake in LKQ by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 44,169 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,623,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its position in LKQ by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,368 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC raised its stake in LKQ by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 7,698 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LKQ. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.15, for a total value of $632,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 321,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,535,840.25. This trade represents a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 45,000 shares of company stock worth $1,864,350 in the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LKQ Trading Down 2.1 %

LKQ opened at $41.29 on Friday. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $52.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.06. The firm has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. On average, equities analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.80%.

LKQ Company Profile

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.