216,928 Shares in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD Purchased by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon acquired 216,928 Lithia Motors shares worth approximately $63 million, giving it a 0.95% stake in the company. Several other institutional investors also increased their positions.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Lithia receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $436.33. Recent targets range from $340 to $455.
• Lithia beat quarterly earnings expectations with $10.03 in EPS and $9.79 billion in revenue, while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.70 and authorizing a $500 million share-repurchase program.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 216,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,015,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.95% of Lithia Motors at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 111.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 93 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 109 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,311.1% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 127 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Lithia Motors by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup raised their price target on Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lithia Motors from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $436.33.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:LAD opened at $369.74 on Thursday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $239.78 and a 12-month high of $439.49. The firm has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $341.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $301.18.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The company had revenue of $9.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.Lithia Motors's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.24 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Lithia Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. Lithia Motors's payout ratio is presently 9.29%.

Lithia Motors declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total value of $50,430.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $513,780.84. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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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