Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Analyst Upgrade

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $343.00 to $346.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Approximately 278,574 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 11% from the previous session’s volume of 251,988 shares.The stock last traded at $358.31 and had previously closed at $362.83.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on LAD. StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.73.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other news, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.72, for a total value of $392,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,466.16. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.86, for a total transaction of $92,652.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $661,964.94. The trade was a 12.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,290 shares of company stock valued at $17,959,596. Insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 69.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $368.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $318.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:LAD) last posted its 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 analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. Lithia Motors’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.25 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 7.24%.

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.