Centiva Capital LP Makes New $967,000 Investment in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $967,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors in the third quarter worth $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 83.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 23.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,000.

Insider Activity at Lithia Motors

In other news, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total value of $2,855,989.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 32,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,744,821.34. This represents a 21.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,754,677.36. The trade was a 23.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,067 shares of company stock worth $20,933,294. 1.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lithia Motors from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $357.60.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

NYSE:LAD traded up $1.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $377.98. The company had a trading volume of 153,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 261,510. The firm has a market cap of $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $346.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.79. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.00 and a 52 week high of $405.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. Lithia Motors's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors's payout ratio is 7.24%.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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.