Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $380.00 to $418.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Lithia Motors traded as high as $390.00 and last traded at $388.71, with a volume of 9860 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $382.50.

LAD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lithia Motors from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $357.60.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total transaction of $6,127,965.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $80,408,369.28. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 242 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $382.86, for a total value of $92,652.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $661,964.94. This trade represents a 12.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,698 shares of company stock worth $13,309,244 over the last 90 days. 1.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithia Motors

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 20,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,084,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 114.4% in the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 1,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the company's stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 95.9% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,851 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,459,000 after purchasing an additional 2,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 5.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,223 shares of the company's stock worth $4,580,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the period.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $330.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.40. The stock has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 1.63.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.25 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. 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.