Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Buys 3,061 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) by 497.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,676 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $1,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sage Rhino Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 697 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at $501,000. Finally, Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at $298,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $371.36.

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Insider Activity

In related news, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 325 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.86, for a total transaction 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 $645,786.90. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Adam Chamberlain sold 403 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.28, for a total transaction of $154,864.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,049.40. This trade represents a 13.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company's stock.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of LAD stock opened at $305.09 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $355.30 and a 200 day moving average of $341.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.00 and a 52 week high of $405.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.43% and a net margin of 2.21%. As a group, research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Lithia Motors's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.14%.

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.

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