Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Trims Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Key Points

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS cut its Lithia Motors stake by 53.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,090 shares and leaving it with 6,068 shares worth about $2.02 million.
• Insider selling was also notable, with directors Richard J. Bailey, Jr. and Shauna McIntyre both reducing their holdings; insiders sold 617 shares total over the last 90 days.
• Lithia Motors reported better-than-expected quarterly results, approved a $500 million stock buyback, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.57 per share from $0.55.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) by 53.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,068 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,090 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $2,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 13.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 113,346 shares of the company's stock worth $33,272,000 after buying an additional 45,716 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 16.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 93,170 shares of the company's stock worth $27,349,000 after acquiring an additional 13,407 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 16.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,430 shares of the company's stock worth $821,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the second quarter worth $651,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total value of $83,329.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,233.20. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 245 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.64, for a total transaction of $72,186.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $543,905.44. This trade represents a 11.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 617 shares of company stock valued at $174,966. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LAD. Weiss Ratings lowered Lithia Motors from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $348.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $335.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $368.11.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $288.89 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $298.42. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $239.78 and a 12-month high of $360.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.26.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.66 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Lithia Motors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.01%.

Lithia Motors 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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