BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 10,100 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp reduced its stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 161,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,100 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned approximately 0.59% of Lithia Motors worth $40,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 83.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 80.2% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 12,500.0% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the first quarter worth $114,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim raised Lithia Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $338.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Lithia Motors from $266.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $326.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total value of $88,632.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,707.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total value of $88,632.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,922 shares in the company, valued at $556,707.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,754,677.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,021 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,617 over the last ninety days. 1.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE LAD opened at $306.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $280.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $271.10. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $231.36 and a one year high of $331.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.64.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 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 business had revenue of $9.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.91 earnings per share. Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 28.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.26%.

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.