Tina Miller Sells 1,000 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Stock

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.72, for a total value of $392,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,466.16. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Lithia Motors stock opened at $386.16 on Friday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.00 and a 12-month high of $405.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $336.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $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 6.48 and a beta of 1.63.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAD. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 14.7% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,390,000 after purchasing an additional 217,867 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,016,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,621,000 after acquiring an additional 203,543 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 12.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 753,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,204,000 after acquiring an additional 85,579 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 27.5% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 365,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,997,000 after acquiring an additional 78,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tensile Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.4% in the third quarter. Tensile Capital Management LP now owns 261,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,071,000 after purchasing an additional 6,252 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.60.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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.