Wells Fargo & Company Raises Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Price Target to $346.00

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its target price raised by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $343.00 to $346.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential downside of 3.33% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $361.73.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

NYSE LAD opened at $357.93 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $368.96 and a 200-day moving average of $318.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.67. Lithia Motors has a fifty-two week low of $243.00 and a fifty-two week high of $405.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Lithia Motors will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In related news, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.72, for a total transaction of $392,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,466.16. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 6,742 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,696,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 174,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,778,000. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,290 shares of company stock worth $17,959,596 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versor Investments LP raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Lithia Motors by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 259,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,560,000 after acquiring an additional 37,677 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 70,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,774,000 after purchasing an additional 13,126 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 118.9% in the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,609,000 after buying an additional 87,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 46.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 10,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,650,000 after purchasing an additional 3,313 shares during the last quarter.

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.