318 Shares in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Acquired by Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,823,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $929,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,962 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,390,000 after purchasing an additional 217,867 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 25.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 727,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,981,000 after purchasing an additional 48,938 shares during the period. Finally, Cadian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter worth approximately $105,370,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America raised their target price on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com cut Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $338.00.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of LAD opened at $320.83 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.36 and a 1 year high of $331.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $284.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.90.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.09 by $0.78. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.29 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 13.84%. Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 28.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total value of $2,973,697.61. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $13,417,080.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,021 shares of company stock worth $6,534,617. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

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.