SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 24,651 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 194.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,352 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,651 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $1,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKQ. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in LKQ during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Clear Street Markets LLC boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 94.1% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 497 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 81.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LKQ in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LKQ in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LKQ shares. StockNews.com cut LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, LKQ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.50.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In other news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total transaction of $10,394,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,087,548.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ stock opened at $53.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.27. LKQ Co. has a 52-week low of $41.49 and a 52-week high of $59.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26 and a beta of 1.29.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The auto parts company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.08. LKQ had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 6.75%. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is 34.29%.

About LKQ

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.