Allstate Corp Buys Shares of 7,954 LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,954 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in LKQ by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 618.0% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of LKQ during the 3rd quarter valued at $81,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in LKQ by 107.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in LKQ by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LKQ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total transaction of $416,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 359,462 shares in the company, valued at $14,975,186.92. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock worth $1,864,350. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Trading Up 1.0 %

LKQ stock opened at $43.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71. LKQ Co. has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $52.84.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

About LKQ

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.