Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Given New $415.00 Price Target at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays raised Lithia Motors’ price target to $415 from $360 while maintaining an “overweight” rating, implying approximately 11% upside from the prior close.
• Lithia reported quarterly EPS of $10.03, exceeding the $8.73 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $9.79 billion and increased 2.2% year over year.
• The company authorized a $500 million share-repurchase program, covering up to 7.9% of outstanding shares. Analysts’ average rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $436.33.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Barclays from $360.00 to $415.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Barclays's target price would suggest a potential upside of 10.99% from the company's previous close.

LAD has been the topic of several other reports. Benchmark boosted their target price on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $490.00 price objective on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised Lithia Motors from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lithia Motors from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $436.33.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD stock traded up $17.37 on Wednesday, reaching $373.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 314,987. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $333.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $299.43. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.22. Lithia Motors has a 1 year low of $239.78 and a 1 year high of $439.49.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.73 by $1.30. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.The company had revenue of $9.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.24 earnings per share. Lithia Motors's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Lithia Motors will post 36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total value of $83,329.29. Following the transaction, the director owned 760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $213,233.20. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total value of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $513,780.84. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 537 shares of company stock worth $157,385 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAD. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the second quarter valued at $696,482,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter worth about $125,214,000. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the second quarter worth about $66,988,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,015,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,814,000 after purchasing an additional 186,628 shares during the period.

About Lithia Motors

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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