LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.60.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LKQ shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st.

LKQ Price Performance

NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $41.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. LKQ has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $53.68. The firm has a market cap of $10.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.95.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LKQ will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is presently 45.80%.

Insider Transactions at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $184,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 374,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,795,180.08. This represents a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LKQ

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 12.1% during the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 5,813 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 10.4% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 21,816 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 2,047 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the third quarter worth about $274,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in LKQ by 1.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 679,430 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,123,000 after purchasing an additional 10,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in LKQ by 1.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,552,916 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $61,992,000 after purchasing an additional 18,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

About LKQ

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.