Isthmus Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 1,097 Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 83.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 12,500.0% in the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 23.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the second quarter valued at approximately $80,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.86, for a total value of $92,652.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $661,964.94. The trade was a 12.28 % 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. Also, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total value of $6,127,965.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,408,369.28. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 58,067 shares of company stock valued at $20,933,294. Insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $387.06 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $338.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.90. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.00 and a 12-month high of $405.67. The company has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.34 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 (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.25 earnings per share. Lithia Motors’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAD has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.60.

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.