Barrington Research Comments on LKQ Co.’s FY2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:LKQ)

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) – Research analysts at Barrington Research cut their FY2024 earnings estimates for LKQ in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barrington Research analyst G. Prestopino now expects that the auto parts company will post earnings per share of $3.90 for the year, down from their previous estimate of $4.05. Barrington Research has a “Outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for LKQ’s current full-year earnings is $3.98 per share. Barrington Research also issued estimates for LKQ’s FY2025 earnings at $4.29 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LKQ. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ stock opened at $43.64 on Thursday. LKQ has a 1-year low of $41.30 and a 1-year high of $59.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $50.85 and its 200 day moving average is $48.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 EPS.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total transaction of $10,394,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at $20,087,548.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LKQ

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 13.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,581 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in LKQ by 90.7% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 843 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in LKQ by 2.1% in the third quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 18,429 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 81,945 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,056,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in LKQ by 167.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 759 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.