Zacks Research Expects Increased Earnings for Lithia Motors

Key Points

• Zacks Research raised Lithia Motors’ Q3 2026 EPS estimate to $9.30 from $8.95 and projects full-year 2027 earnings of $40.20 per share. The firm maintains a “Hold” rating.
• Lithia’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $10.03 versus the $8.73 consensus and revenue of $9.79 billion, up 2.2% year over year.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.70 per share and has a $500 million stock-repurchase authorization covering up to 7.9% of outstanding shares.

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Zacks Research boosted their Q3 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Lithia Motors in a research note issued on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the company will earn $9.30 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $8.95. Zacks Research has a "Hold" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Lithia Motors' current full-year earnings is $35.72 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Lithia Motors' Q4 2026 earnings at $8.51 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $35.18 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $9.43 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $10.50 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $10.44 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $9.83 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $40.20 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $11.92 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $12.83 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $49.77 EPS.

LAD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Lithia Motors from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lithia Motors from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group lowered Lithia Motors from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $370.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $430.22.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Lithia Motors stock opened at $378.31 on Thursday. Lithia Motors has a one year low of $239.78 and a one year high of $439.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $327.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $298.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.22.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. The firm had revenue of $9.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.The business's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.24 earnings per share.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Lithia Motors's payout ratio is currently 9.29%.

Lithia Motors declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total transaction of $83,329.29. Following the sale, the director directly owned 760 shares in the company, valued at $213,233.20. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $513,780.84. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 537 shares of company stock worth $157,385 in the last 90 days. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 111.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 93 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 101.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 109 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,311.1% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 127 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period.

Lithia Motors Company 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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