Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Shares Sold by Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD – Get Rating) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,225 shares of the company’s stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LAD. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 62,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,339,000 after purchasing an additional 3,445 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Lithia Motors by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $743,000 after buying an additional 879 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $960,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 366.1% during the third quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 6,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,345,000 after buying an additional 4,924 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 5,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $434,720. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 167 shares of the firm’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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider George N. Hines sold 1,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.55, for a total transaction of $327,129.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,128,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,857 shares of company stock valued at $415,500 over the last three months. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Lithia Motors stock opened at $236.24 on Wednesday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.00 and a 52 week high of $314.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $219.27 and a 200-day moving average of $230.38.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The company reported $8.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.79 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 22.34%. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $11.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 12th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 4.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LAD. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $332.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Lithia Motors from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $300.56.

About Lithia Motors

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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.