Dean Investment Associates LLC Buys New Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Dean Investment Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,396,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LAD. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167 shares of the company's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 863 shares of the company's stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Mariner LLC grew its position in Lithia Motors by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the company's stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LAD. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Lithia Motors from $417.00 to $356.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $397.00 to $308.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $420.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $352.18.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 3.7 %

LAD traded up $10.49 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $294.31. The stock had a trading volume of 97,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 311,669. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $243.00 and a one year high of $405.68. The company has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock's 50 day moving average is $312.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $341.42.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 12.43%. As a group, analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Lithia Motors's payout ratio is 7.14%.

Insider Activity at Lithia Motors

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 248 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.84, for a total transaction of $72,128.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at $377,219.48. The trade was a 16.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Adam Chamberlain sold 403 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.28, for a total transaction of $154,864.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,001,049.40. This trade represents a 13.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,246 shares of company stock valued at $433,724 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company's stock.

Lithia Motors 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.