Congdon Stacy Loretz Sells 75 Shares of Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Stock

Key Points

• Director Congdon Stacy Loretz sold 75 shares of Lithia Motors at $315.00 each, totaling $23,625. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, and the director still owns 2,375 shares.
• Lithia Motors reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $7.34 versus the $7.06 consensus estimate and revenue of $9.27 billion, slightly above forecasts. Revenue was up 1% year over year.
• The company also boosted its dividend and launched a $500 million share repurchase program, signaling confidence in its valuation and cash flow. The quarterly dividend rose to $0.57 per share from $0.55.

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) Director Congdon Stacy Loretz sold 75 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $23,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $748,125. The trade was a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

NYSE:LAD traded down $3.74 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $309.64. The stock had a trading volume of 273,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 311,735. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $239.78 and a one year high of $360.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.26.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.06 by $0.28. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.66 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Lithia Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Lithia Motors's payout ratio is presently 8.01%.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the first quarter valued at about $67,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 72,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373 shares during the period. Talon Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the first quarter valued at about $572,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 17.3% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 28,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,077,000 after acquiring an additional 4,176 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 86,520 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LAD. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a "buy" rating and a $348.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Lithia Motors from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.11.

About Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, Inc is an American automotive retailer headquartered in Medford, Oregon. Founded in 1946 as a small auto body and glass shop, the company has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest automotive retail networks in North America. Lithia operates dealerships across the United States and Canada, offering a broad portfolio of new and pre-owned vehicles from more than 40 different manufacturers.

The company's core business activities include vehicle sales, financing, insurance, parts and service.

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