JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 259,916 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,677 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $82,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 12.1% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 11.4% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after acquiring an additional 1,686 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Lithia Motors in the second quarter worth approximately $202,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,946,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC raised its position in Lithia Motors by 0.3% in the second quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 214,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,134,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $348.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $9.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $368.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $311.84. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.00 and a 1-year high of $405.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The firm had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.25 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 7.24%.

Insider Activity at Lithia Motors

In related news, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total value of $2,855,989.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 32,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,744,821.34. This trade represents a 21.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 6,742 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,696,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,778,000. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,290 shares of company stock valued at $17,959,596 over the last quarter. 1.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LAD. Citigroup raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.60.

Lithia Motors 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.