Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 679,430 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,912 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of LKQ worth $27,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKQ. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in LKQ in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $274,000. Access Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 4.3% during the third quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 125,665 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,017,000 after buying an additional 5,180 shares during the period. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 11.2% during the third quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,667 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in LKQ by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 21,816 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $871,000 after acquiring an additional 2,047 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.80.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ opened at $38.20 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.00. LKQ Co. has a 1 year low of $35.57 and a 1 year high of $53.68. The stock has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.01. LKQ had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 15.15%. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. LKQ’s payout ratio is 44.78%.

LKQ Profile

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.