Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Price Target Raised to $420.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its target price boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $400.00 to $420.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

LAD has been the subject of several other reports. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $371.36.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 2.8 %

LAD opened at $350.44 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $362.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $337.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Lithia Motors has a one year low of $243.00 and a one year high of $405.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 12.43%. Equities research analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 6,742 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,696,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,778,000. This represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,466.16. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,470 shares of company stock valued at $3,370,439. Insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LAD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter worth about $152,752,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter worth about $113,250,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 137.8% in the fourth quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP now owns 460,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,524,000 after buying an additional 266,715 shares during the period. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter worth about $91,190,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter worth about $46,505,000.

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.