LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Declares $0.30 Quarterly Dividend

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share by the auto parts company on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th.

LKQ has raised its dividend payment by an average of 68.7% per year over the last three years. LKQ has a dividend payout ratio of 31.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect LKQ to earn $4.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.9%.

LKQ Stock Up 1.5 %

LKQ opened at $44.05 on Tuesday. LKQ has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $53.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that LKQ will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on LKQ shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, LKQ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction of $634,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 336,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,225,233.20. This trade represents a 4.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300 over the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LKQ Company 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.