Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New Investment in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio opened a new Lithia Motors position, purchasing 6,970 shares valued at approximately $2.03 million in the second quarter. Several other institutional investors also increased or initiated holdings.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with six Buy ratings and five Hold ratings producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $436.33.
• Lithia Motors exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.70 per share, and authorized a $500 million share-repurchase program covering up to 7.9% of shares outstanding.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,025,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LAD. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in Lithia Motors by 111.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 93 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 109 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LAD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $490.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lithia Motors from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Lithia Motors from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $436.33.

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 transaction, the director owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at this link. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

NYSE LAD opened at $385.63 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $352.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $303.91. 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 announced 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. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.16%. The business had revenue of $9.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.24 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Lithia Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Lithia Motors's payout ratio is presently 9.29%.

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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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