Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Price Target to $299.00

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its target price reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $302.00 to $299.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 4.45% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $338.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America boosted 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. Stephens began coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $337.70.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

LAD stock opened at $312.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $294.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $273.30. Lithia Motors has a 52-week low of $231.36 and a 52-week high of $331.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.24, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.09 by $0.78. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $9.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors will post 28.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total transaction of $88,632.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,707.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total transaction of $88,632.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,707.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,021 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,617 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,823,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $929,679,000 after buying an additional 15,962 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,390,000 after buying an additional 217,867 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 727,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,981,000 after purchasing an additional 48,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 260,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,756,000 after purchasing an additional 5,390 shares during the last quarter.

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.