Cooke & Bieler LP Sells 123,878 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Key Points

• Cooke & Bieler LP reduced its Lithia Motors stake by 40.5% in the third quarter, selling 123,878 shares and retaining 182,353 shares valued at approximately $53.2 million.
• Lithia reported a quarterly earnings beat, with adjusted EPS of $10.34 versus the $9.70 consensus and revenue of $9.95 billion. Used-vehicle margins, finance income, and originations also improved.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.70 to $0.75 per share, while analysts maintained a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $402.60 despite several target-price reductions.

Cooke & Bieler LP trimmed its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 182,353 shares of the company's stock after selling 123,878 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned approximately 0.83% of Lithia Motors worth $53,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 984 shares of the company's stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 173 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Crumly & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.6% during the second quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 1,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 6.1% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 777 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.6% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Stacy Congdon sold 75 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.73, for a total value of $27,804.75. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $852,679. The trade was a 3.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.08% of the company's stock.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $270.21 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $333.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $315.12. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $239.78 and a fifty-two week high of $439.49. The company has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $10.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.70 by $0.64. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.50 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 35.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Lithia Motors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.29%.

Lithia Motors News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Lithia Motors this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adjusted earnings and revenue exceeded expectations. Adjusted diluted EPS rose 9% year over year to $10.34, ahead of the $9.70 consensus estimate, while revenue increased 2.8% to $9.95 billion versus expectations of $9.75 billion. Reported diluted EPS was $13.22, up 54% from the prior-year quarter. Lithia & Driveway third-quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Retail and finance operations showed strength. Used-vehicle retail gross profit per unit increased 11% year over year to $197, aftersales gross margin improved to 59.5%, and Driveway Finance income jumped 69% to $32.3 million. Finance originations reached a record $937 million. Lithia key takeaways
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns increased. Lithia raised its quarterly dividend 7.1%, from $0.70 to $0.75 per share, and repurchased $85 million of stock during the quarter—about 1.1% of shares outstanding. Lithia dividend and results announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings call is the next key focus. Investors are likely looking for management commentary on vehicle demand, used-car margins, financing trends, inventory, and the outlook to determine whether the quarterly beat can continue.
• Negative Sentiment: The market response was unfavorable despite the beat. Revenue growth remained relatively modest, and the decline in the shares indicates investors may have expected stronger forward guidance or see risks in the auto-retailing environment that outweighed the quarterly upside.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAD has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $340.00 to $320.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Lithia Motors from $358.00 to $310.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $415.00 to $375.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lithia Motors from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $402.60.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

Lithia Motors, Inc is an automotive retailer headquartered in Medford, Oregon. Operating under the Lithia & Driveway name, the company sells new and used vehicles through a network of franchised dealerships and digital retail channels. Its dealerships represent a broad range of domestic, Asian and European automotive brands.

In addition to vehicle sales, Lithia provides related services including vehicle financing and insurance products, parts and maintenance, collision repair, and other after-sales support.

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