Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Acquires New Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 33,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,063,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 0.13% of Lithia Motors at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Lithia Motors by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.6% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 1,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Lithia Motors from $420.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Adam Chamberlain sold 403 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.28, for a total transaction of $154,864.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,049.40. This trade represents a 13.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.84, for a total value of $72,128.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,297 shares in the company, valued at $377,219.48. The trade was a 16.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,246 shares of company stock valued at $433,724 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

LAD stock opened at $289.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $340.16 and a 200 day moving average of $342.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.69. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.00 and a 1 year high of $405.68.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.43% and a net margin of 2.21%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.14%.

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.