Lithia Motors (LAD) Competitors

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) and Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, institutional ownership, earnings, community ranking, valuation and profitability.

Which has better earnings & valuation, PAG or LAD?

Penske Automotive Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Lithia Motors. Lithia Motors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Penske Automotive Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Penske Automotive Group	$30.46B	0.34	$918.90M	$13.75	11.32
Lithia Motors	$36.80B	0.21	$802M	$31.73	9.26

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in PAG or LAD?

Lithia Motors received 145 more outperform votes than Penske Automotive Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.27% of users gave Lithia Motors an outperform vote while only 60.20% of users gave Penske Automotive Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Penske Automotive Group	Outperform Votes 354 60.20%	Underperform Votes 234 39.80%
Lithia Motors	Outperform Votes 499 66.27%	Underperform Votes 254 33.73%

Does the media prefer PAG or LAD?

In the previous week, Penske Automotive Group had 7 more articles in the media than Lithia Motors. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for Penske Automotive Group and 16 mentions for Lithia Motors. Penske Automotive Group's average media sentiment score of 0.92 beat Lithia Motors' score of 0.84 indicating that Penske Automotive Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Penske Automotive Group	10 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Lithia Motors	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, PAG or LAD?

Penske Automotive Group has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lithia Motors has a beta of 1.61, indicating that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend PAG or LAD?

Penske Automotive Group presently has a consensus target price of $170.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.27%. Lithia Motors has a consensus target price of $361.20, suggesting a potential upside of 22.93%. Given Lithia Motors' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Lithia Motors is more favorable than Penske Automotive Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Penske Automotive Group	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Lithia Motors	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.70

Is PAG or LAD more profitable?

Penske Automotive Group has a net margin of 3.02% compared to Lithia Motors' net margin of 2.21%. Penske Automotive Group's return on equity of 18.05% beat Lithia Motors' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Penske Automotive Group	3.02%	18.05%	5.50%
Lithia Motors	2.21%	12.43%	3.53%

Is PAG or LAD a better dividend stock?

Penske Automotive Group pays an annual dividend of $4.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Lithia Motors pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Penske Automotive Group pays out 35.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lithia Motors pays out 6.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Lithia Motors has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in PAG or LAD?

77.1% of Penske Automotive Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 51.7% of Penske Automotive Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Lithia Motors shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Penske Automotive Group beats Lithia Motors on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.