Empowered Funds LLC Buys New Stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC purchased 7,671 Lithia Motors shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $2.23 million. Several other institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs and UBS Asset Management, also increased their positions.
• Analysts remain generally positive, with six Buy ratings and five Hold ratings producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $436.33.
• Lithia Motors exceeded 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 buyback.

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,671 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,228,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group downgraded Lithia Motors from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $370.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $490.00 target price on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lithia Motors from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $436.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In related news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total transaction of $50,430.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $513,780.84. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company's stock.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAD opened at $372.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The business's 50 day moving average price is $348.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $302.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.23. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $239.78 and a 1 year high of $439.49.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The firm had revenue of $9.79 billion during 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%.The firm's revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. Lithia Motors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.29%.

Lithia Motors declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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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