Xponance Inc. Sells 211 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Xponance Inc. cut its stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD – Get Rating) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,248 shares of the company’s stock after selling 211 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MFN Partners Management LP lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 13.3% in the second quarter. MFN Partners Management LP now owns 851,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,884,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 3.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 807,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,459,000 after buying an additional 29,352 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 77.5% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 554,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,501,000 after purchasing an additional 242,086 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 256,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,042,000 after purchasing an additional 9,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 239,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,014,000 after buying an additional 31,979 shares during the period. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on LAD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $325.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 6th. Craig Hallum dropped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $540.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 20th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors to $358.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 13th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $348.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.67.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

NYSE LAD opened at $211.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $216.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $238.63. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $180.00 and a 52-week high of $349.61. The company has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 4.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.39.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 19th. The company reported $11.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.91 by ($0.83). The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.34 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Lithia Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $11.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 45.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 11th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 9th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.76%.

Lithia Motors Profile

(Get Rating)

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Domestic, Import, and Luxury. It offers new and used vehicles; vehicle financing services; warranties, insurance contracts, and vehicle and theft protection services; and automotive repair and maintenance services, as well as sells vehicle body and parts under the Driveway and GreenCars brand names.