Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Buys 217,867 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 217,867 shares during the period. Lithia Motors accounts for approximately 1.5% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned 6.21% of Lithia Motors worth $429,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 9,818 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 132.9% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,758,000 after acquiring an additional 10,920 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the second quarter valued at $607,000. Comerica Bank increased its position in Lithia Motors by 89.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 29,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,867,000 after purchasing an additional 13,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 11.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 203,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,318,000 after purchasing an additional 20,416 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $338.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $266.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $326.00.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

LAD stock opened at $299.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.64. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.36 and a twelve month high of $331.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $271.16.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.09 by $0.78. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.91 EPS. Analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 28.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total transaction of $3,472,286.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,417,080.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total value of $2,973,697.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,754,677.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total transaction of $3,472,286.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 46,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,417,080.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,021 shares of company stock worth $6,534,617 in the last ninety days. 1.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lithia Motors Company 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. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.