Vestcor Inc Makes New Investment in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $771,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 753,067 shares of the company's stock worth $239,204,000 after acquiring an additional 85,579 shares during the period. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,250,000. Tensile Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tensile Capital Management LP now owns 261,527 shares of the company's stock worth $83,071,000 after acquiring an additional 6,252 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 259,916 shares of the company's stock worth $82,560,000 after acquiring an additional 37,677 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 237,714 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,966,000 after purchasing an additional 3,558 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 raised their price target 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, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $371.36.

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Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 248 shares of Lithia Motors 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,297 shares in the company, valued at $377,219.48. This trade represents a 16.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $126,054.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $645,786.90. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,246 shares of company stock worth $433,724 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company's stock.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of LAD traded down $2.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $304.66. 142,960 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 294,223. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $346.66 and a 200-day moving average of $341.56. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.00 and a fifty-two week high of $405.68.

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

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Lithia Motors's dividend 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.