VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys New Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems has acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors, purchasing 4,800 shares valued at approximately $1.62 million.
• Lithia Motors reported a quarterly EPS of $9.50, exceeding estimates by $0.97, along with a revenue of $9.68 billion, which was also above analyst projections.
• The company has announced a stock repurchase plan allowing for the buyback of up to $750 million in outstanding shares, signaling management's belief that the shares are undervalued.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake 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 institutional investor bought 4,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,622,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Lithia Motors by 106.2% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 134 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Lithia Motors during the 1st quarter valued at about $55,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Lithia Motors by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 212 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Lithia Motors by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 252 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Lithia Motors by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 262 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 1.1%

Lithia Motors stock opened at $308.32 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.28. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $262.10 and a 52 week high of $405.67. The business's 50-day moving average price is $322.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $315.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $9.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.97. The firm had revenue of $9.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.38 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 2.39%.Lithia Motors's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 26th that allows the company to repurchase $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Lithia Motors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.05, for a total transaction of $75,020.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at $403,236.80. This trade represents a 15.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LAD shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, September 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered Lithia Motors from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $378.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Lithia Motors from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $381.00.

About Lithia Motors

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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