Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $371.36.

LAD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

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Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of Lithia Motors stock traded down $2.15 on Monday, reaching $304.57. The stock had a trading volume of 71,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 293,999. Lithia Motors has a fifty-two week low of $243.00 and a fifty-two week high of $405.68. The business's 50-day moving average price is $346.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $341.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.69.

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

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Lithia Motors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 325 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.86, for a total value of $126,054.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $645,786.90. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Adam Chamberlain sold 403 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 2,605 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,049.40. The trade was a 13.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,246 shares of company stock worth $433,724 over the last three months. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 14.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 776 shares of the company's stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lithia Motors during the 3rd quarter worth $26,071,000. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter valued at $232,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the third quarter worth $246,000. Finally, Commerce Bank bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the third quarter valued at about $204,000.

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.