427,362 Shares in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 427,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $152,752,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.60% of Lithia Motors as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,063,000. Bridge City Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 21,180 shares of the company's stock worth $7,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 4,049 shares of the company's stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter worth $2,002,000. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter valued at about $217,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $420.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised Lithia Motors from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $365.91.

Remove Ads

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other news, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 325 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $645,786.90. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 248 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.84, for a total value of $72,128.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,219.48. The trade was a 16.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,246 shares of company stock worth $433,724. Company insiders own 0.87% of the company's stock.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:LAD traded down $1.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $281.31. 583,799 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 307,866. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.00 and a fifty-two week high of $405.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $334.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $343.34.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Lithia Motors's payout ratio is 7.14%.

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.