Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) CEO Sells $6,127,965.12 in Stock

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total value of $6,127,965.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,408,369.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

LAD stock opened at $376.11 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $316.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $283.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.18. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.00 and a 52-week high of $388.36.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.24%.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 83.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 12,500.0% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 23.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Lithia Motors in the second quarter worth approximately $80,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.80.

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.