LKQ Co. (LKQ) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 on March 27th

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the auto parts company on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th.

LKQ has increased its dividend payment by an average of 68.7% per year over the last three years. LKQ has a payout ratio of 31.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect LKQ to earn $4.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.9%.

LKQ Stock Up 1.5 %

LKQ stock opened at $44.05 on Tuesday. LKQ has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $53.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.90.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LKQ will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LKQ has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total value of $634,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 336,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,225,233.20. This represents a 4.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300 over the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About LKQ

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.