Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 555 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD – Get Rating) by 11.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,306 shares of the company’s stock after selling 555 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $924,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LAD. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 120.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the third quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 116.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on LAD shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. TheStreet upgraded Lithia Motors from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Tuesday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Lithia Motors from $200.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price target on Lithia Motors from $343.00 to $332.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $301.89.

Insider Activity at Lithia Motors

In related news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $43,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $434,720. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

NYSE:LAD opened at $236.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $251.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.42. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.00 and a 12-month high of $341.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The company reported $9.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.11 by ($1.06). Lithia Motors had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 25.41%. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $11.39 earnings per share. Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 35.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 3.81%.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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Lithia Motors, Inc engages in the operation of automotive franchises and retail of new and used vehicles. It operates through the following segments: Domestic, Import and Luxury. The Domestic segment consists of retail automotive franchises that sell new vehicles manufactured by Chrysler, General Motors, and Ford.