LKQ Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 (NASDAQ:LKQ)

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the auto parts company on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th.

LKQ has raised its dividend by an average of 68.7% per year over the last three years. LKQ has a dividend payout ratio of 30.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect LKQ to earn $4.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.9%.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $41.54. The stock had a trading volume of 2,708,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,144,249. The business's fifty day moving average is $37.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.29. LKQ has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that LKQ will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total value of $416,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 359,462 shares in the company, valued at $14,975,186.92. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $781,500 over the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, LKQ has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.60.

About LKQ

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.