Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Monday.

LAD has been the subject of several other reports. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $350.80.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 1.9 %

LAD stock traded up $6.27 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $344.08. The stock had a trading volume of 242,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,897. The firm has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Lithia Motors has a 1-year low of $243.00 and a 1-year high of $347.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $304.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $277.87.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.25 earnings per share. Lithia Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lithia Motors will post 28.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total value of $2,855,989.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 32,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,744,821.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total value of $2,973,697.61. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total transaction of $2,855,989.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 32,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,744,821.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,235 shares of company stock valued at $9,301,973. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithia Motors

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 14.7% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,390,000 after acquiring an additional 217,867 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 25.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,016,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,621,000 after acquiring an additional 203,543 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 118.9% in the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,609,000 after acquiring an additional 87,362 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 27.5% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 365,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,997,000 after acquiring an additional 78,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 7.2% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 727,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,981,000 after acquiring an additional 48,938 shares during the last quarter.

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.