Lithia Motors, Inc. (LAD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.53 on March 21st

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of 0.53 per share on Friday, March 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th.

Lithia Motors has increased its dividend payment by an average of 15.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Lithia Motors has a payout ratio of 5.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Lithia Motors to earn $40.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.3%.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 1.3 %

Lithia Motors stock traded down $4.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $313.89. 22,963 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 376,387. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $358.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $341.38. Lithia Motors has a 12-month low of $243.00 and a 12-month high of $405.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 12.43%. Research analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.86, for a total transaction of $126,054.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $645,786.90. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Adam Chamberlain sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.28, for a total value of $154,864.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,001,049.40. The trade was a 13.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAD has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.36.

About Lithia Motors

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.