Park Avenue Securities LLC Cuts Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Park Avenue Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 26.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,476 shares of the company’s stock after selling 523 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 49,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,397,000 after acquiring an additional 9,818 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its position in Lithia Motors by 4.1% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 4,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,300,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 35,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,385,000 after purchasing an additional 8,862 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 20,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,836,000 after buying an additional 2,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Lithia Motors by 95.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 12,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,736,000 after acquiring an additional 6,181 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.42, for a total transaction of $35,109.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $566,847.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LAD shares. Guggenheim downgraded Lithia Motors from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lithia Motors from $290.00 to $248.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Craig Hallum dropped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lithia Motors presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.45.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $252.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.36 and a 1 year high of $331.96. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $258.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $282.10. The company has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.45, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.62.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $6.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.85 by ($1.74). The firm had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 15.62% and a net margin of 2.87%. Lithia Motors’s revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 28.79 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. This is an increase from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 6.26%.

Lithia Motors Profile

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.