LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) Price Target Raised to $49.00

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) had its target price raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $48.00 to $49.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on LKQ. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $40.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.63 and a 200-day moving average of $38.76. LKQ has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LKQ will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $180,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 369,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,352,356.68. The trade was a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $781,500. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in LKQ in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in LKQ by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in LKQ by 94.2% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,010 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in LKQ by 31.2% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in LKQ in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LKQ Company Profile

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.