Truist Financial Corp Decreases Stock Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp reduced its stake in Lithia Motors by 5.8%, selling 1,263 shares to hold 20,637 shares valued at approximately $6.97 million at the end of the last quarter.
• Other institutional investors have also adjusted their positions, with Parallel Advisors LLC increasing its stake by 106.2% during the same period.
• Lithia Motors recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share and has initiated a share repurchase plan worth $750 million, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Truist Financial Corp decreased its position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,637 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,263 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.08% of Lithia Motors worth $6,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 106.2% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 134 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the 1st quarter worth $55,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Lithia Motors in the 1st quarter valued at about $59,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 63.7% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 203 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 30.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 212 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 256 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.05, for a total value of $75,020.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,376 shares in the company, valued at $403,236.80. The trade was a 15.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.87% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

LAD stock opened at $313.14 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $319.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $315.52. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $262.10 and a 12-month high of $405.67. The firm has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.78 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $9.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.56 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 13.21%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 26th that permits the company to buyback $750.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Lithia Motors's dividend payout ratio is 6.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $378.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Lithia Motors from $383.00 to $380.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $376.50.

Lithia Motors Profile

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer worldwide. It operates in two segments, Vehicle Operations and Financing Operations. The company's Vehicle Operations segment sells new and used vehicles; provides parts, repair, and maintenance services; vehicle finance; and insurance products. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.

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