Paloma Partners Management Co Makes New Investment in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Lithia Motors by 83.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Lithia Motors by 23.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Lithia Motors by 12,500.0% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors during the second quarter valued at about $80,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total value of $6,127,965.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $80,408,369.28. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.72, for a total transaction of $392,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,466.16. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 58,067 shares of company stock valued at $20,933,294 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.79% of the company's stock.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 0.6 %

LAD stock traded down $2.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $382.00. The stock had a trading volume of 263,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 262,460. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.00 and a 1-year high of $405.67. 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 firm has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $343.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $295.63.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors's payout ratio is presently 7.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LAD. Guggenheim increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $357.60.

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.