Raymond James & Associates Has $5.47 Million Stock Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Raymond James & Associates cut its position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD – Get Rating) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 26,690 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,114 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.10% of Lithia Motors worth $5,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Lithia Motors by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Lithia Motors by 5.8% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Lithia Motors by 93.5% in the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. TheStreet upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $332.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $300.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 167 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $43,420.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $434,720. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $43,420.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $434,720. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider George N. Hines sold 1,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.55, for a total transaction of $327,129.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,142 shares in the company, valued at $1,128,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,857 shares of company stock worth $415,500 over the last three months. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:LAD opened at $230.71 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $218.95 and its 200-day moving average is $230.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.30. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.00 and a 52 week high of $314.83. The firm has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.38.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 19th. The company reported $8.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.79 by ($0.35). Lithia Motors had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 22.34%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.90%.

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.