Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Shares Sold by FORA Capital LLC

FORA Capital LLC cut its holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,050 shares of the company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 83.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 12,500.0% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the second quarter worth $80,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on LAD. Morgan Stanley raised Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.60.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:LAD opened at $386.16 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $336.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 1.63. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.00 and a 12 month high of $405.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.25 EPS. Research analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithia Motors news, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.72, for a total transaction of $392,720.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,466.16. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total value of $2,973,697.61. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. This trade represents a 23.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,067 shares of company stock valued at $20,933,294 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

About Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer worldwide. It operates in two segments, Vehicle Operations and Financing Operations. The company’s Vehicle Operations segment sells new and used vehicles; provides parts, repair, and maintenance services; vehicle finance; and insurance products. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.