FourThought Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

FourThought Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD – Get Rating) by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,096 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. FourThought Financial LLC’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Lithia Motors during the second quarter valued at $46,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 120.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter worth $74,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 116.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $43,420.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $434,720. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Lithia Motors stock opened at $209.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $180.00 and a 1-year high of $341.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $251.72 and its 200 day moving average is $231.30.

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

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 3.81%.

Lithia Motors 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.