Short Interest in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Rises By 31.0%

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,490,000 shares, a growth of 31.0% from the January 31st total of 6,480,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total value of $416,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 359,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,975,186.92. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $781,500. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LKQ. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in LKQ by 0.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,977,708 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $478,150,000 after acquiring an additional 33,212 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,449,166 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $457,051,000 after purchasing an additional 134,176 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $309,609,000 after purchasing an additional 833,519 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591,553 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $241,643,000 after purchasing an additional 48,813 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in LKQ by 7.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,020,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $240,346,000 after buying an additional 411,390 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LKQ traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,185,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,322,980. LKQ has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $53.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.06 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $38.23 and its 200-day moving average is $38.86.

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

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. LKQ’s payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on LKQ. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

LKQ Company Profile

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.