Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Given New $343.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $299.00 to $343.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $338.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $350.80.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD stock traded down $3.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $331.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 52,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,700. Lithia Motors has a 1-year low of $233.88 and a 1-year high of $341.84. The company has a market cap of $9.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $299.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.82.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Lithia Motors will post 28.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 6.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total transaction of $3,472,286.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,417,080.94. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total value of $2,973,697.61. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,754,677.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total transaction of $3,472,286.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at $13,417,080.94. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,021 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,617 in the last 90 days. 1.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAD. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 49,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,397,000 after buying an additional 9,818 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 4.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 3.0% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 6,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,042,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 2.2% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 39.0% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,434,000 after buying an additional 4,133 shares during the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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.