Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases 2,488 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) by 120.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,549 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,488 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $1,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 0.6% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 20,220 shares of the company's stock worth $6,084,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 114.4% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 1,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in Lithia Motors by 8.1% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the company's stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 26.6% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 57,279 shares of the company's stock worth $17,233,000 after acquiring an additional 12,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.2% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 727,849 shares of the company's stock worth $218,981,000 after acquiring an additional 48,938 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 3,313 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total value of $1,258,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 192,814 shares in the company, valued at $73,269,320. This represents a 1.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 32,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,744,821.34. This represents a 21.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,394 shares of company stock worth $16,688,879 in the last quarter. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $353.80.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:LAD traded down $1.55 on Friday, reaching $371.06. 201,627 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 260,413. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 1.63. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.00 and a 1-year high of $388.36. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $319.77 and its 200-day moving average is $285.13.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The firm'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 company earned $9.25 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Lithia Motors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.