Praxis Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 10,330 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 104.8% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 977 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 299.6% in the 1st quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,135 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 107.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in LKQ by 56.2% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,971 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in LKQ by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on LKQ. Wall Street Zen lowered LKQ from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.60.

Insider Transactions at LKQ

In other news, CEO Justin L. Jude acquired 2,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $36.99 per share, with a total value of $100,168.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 280,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,385,941.23. The trade was a 0.97% increase 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. Also, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.15, for a total value of $632,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 321,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,535,840.25. This represents a 4.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

LKQ Price Performance

NASDAQ:LKQ traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $37.65. 2,163,413 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,300,273. LKQ Corporation has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $46.64. The stock has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 0.98. The firm's 50-day moving average is $39.75 and its 200-day moving average is $39.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. LKQ had a net margin of 4.97% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that LKQ Corporation will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. LKQ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.78%.

LKQ Profile

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.