LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) Earns Outperform Rating from Barrington Research

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Barrington Research in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 target price on the auto parts company’s stock. Barrington Research’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 43.71% from the stock’s previous close.

LKQ has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.40.

LKQ Price Performance

NASDAQ:LKQ traded up $2.35 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.75. 4,588,982 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,083,432. 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 has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $53.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.51 and its 200-day moving average is $38.73. The stock has a market cap of $10.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 1.29.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 15.15%. Equities research analysts expect that LKQ will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at LKQ

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $180,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 369,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,352,356.68. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 20,000 shares of company stock worth $781,500 in the last three months. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKQ. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 42,563 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 22,575 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of LKQ by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $309,609,000 after buying an additional 833,519 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group acquired a new position in LKQ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $634,000. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in LKQ by 27,310.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 64,415 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,571,000 after acquiring an additional 64,180 shares during the period. Finally, Albert D Mason Inc. grew its position in LKQ by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 42,151 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after acquiring an additional 10,533 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.