Bridge City Capital LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Bridge City Capital LLC boosted its position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,180 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,586 shares during the quarter. Lithia Motors makes up approximately 2.0% of Bridge City Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Bridge City Capital LLC owned about 0.08% of Lithia Motors worth $7,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 69.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 124 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,420.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 152 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167 shares of the company's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other news, COO Adam Chamberlain sold 403 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.28, for a total value of $154,864.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,001,049.40. The trade was a 13.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 248 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.84, for a total transaction of $72,128.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,297 shares in the company, valued at $377,219.48. This trade represents a 16.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,246 shares of company stock worth $433,724. 0.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on LAD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lithia Motors from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $371.36.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 0.2 %

Lithia Motors stock traded down $0.79 on Tuesday, hitting $319.17. 291,441 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 295,525. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.00 and a 1 year high of $405.68. The firm has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $344.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $342.37.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 12.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Lithia Motors's payout ratio is 7.14%.

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.