Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) CEO Bryan B. Deboer Sells 6,742 Shares

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 6,742 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,696,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,445 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

LAD stock traded up $3.38 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $394.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 872,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 262,671. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.00 and a 12 month high of $405.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $330.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.63.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.25 earnings per share. Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.18 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $357.60.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 19.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Lithia Motors during the third quarter valued at $217,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter worth $223,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,722,000.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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.