Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Reduces Stock Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott cut its Lithia Motors stake by 7.4% in the first quarter, selling 6,448 shares and ending with 80,894 shares valued at about $20.2 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Lithia Motors has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with a consensus price target of $368.11, even as some firms recently raised or lowered their targets and ratings.
• The company reported solid results and shareholder returns, beating earnings and revenue estimates for the quarter, increasing its quarterly dividend to $0.57, and authorizing a $500 million share repurchase program.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 80,894 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,448 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.35% of Lithia Motors worth $20,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter worth $125,214,000. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,814,000 after acquiring an additional 186,628 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,409,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 8,474.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 107,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,789,000 after purchasing an additional 106,434 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Lithia Motors by 183.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 162,937 shares of the company's stock worth $54,149,000 after purchasing an additional 105,478 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LAD shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $326.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lithia Motors from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Lithia Motors from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Lithia Motors from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $368.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total value of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at $513,780.84. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total transaction of $83,329.29. Following the sale, the director owned 760 shares in the company, valued at $213,233.20. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 782 shares of company stock worth $229,572 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company's stock.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of LAD stock opened at $290.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.26. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $288.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.47. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $239.78 and a one year high of $360.55.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.06 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.37 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is a boost from Lithia Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Lithia Motors's payout ratio is presently 8.01%.

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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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