LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.60.

LKQ Price Performance

Shares of LKQ stock traded down $0.32 on Wednesday, hitting $40.19. 1,812,391 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,280,357. LKQ has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $46.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $10.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.98. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $40.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.48.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.58 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company's revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. Analysts expect that LKQ will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. LKQ's payout ratio is 44.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction of $634,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 336,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,225,233.20. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Justin L. Jude acquired 2,708 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $36.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,168.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 280,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,385,941.23. This trade represents a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,457,150 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 1.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 18,774 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 44,169 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 34,192 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in LKQ by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 68,790 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $2,528,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company's stock.

LKQ Company 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.