Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Raised to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $310.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $225.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential downside of 2.67% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $334.00.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Lithia Motors stock traded up $4.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $318.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 252,974. Lithia Motors has a 1-year low of $231.36 and a 1-year 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 firm has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $281.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $271.29.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.09 by $0.78. The firm had revenue of $9.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 2.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 28.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total value of $88,632.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,707.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total transaction of $88,632.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,707.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,021 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,617 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 83.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 80.2% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 12,500.0% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,000.

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.