Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,496 shares of the company’s stock after selling 635 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $1,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 83.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 23.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 12,500.0% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at $80,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $357.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total value of $2,855,989.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 32,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,744,821.34. This trade represents a 21.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total transaction of $6,127,965.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,408,369.28. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,698 shares of company stock valued at $13,309,244. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LAD opened at $390.86 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $330.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.79. The company has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 1.63. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.00 and a 52 week high of $391.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.24%.

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.