Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Shares Sold by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp lowered its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,636 shares of the company’s stock after selling 275 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LAD. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 69.9% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LAD shares. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, COO Adam Chamberlain sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.28, for a total transaction of $154,864.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,049.40. This represents a 13.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.86, for a total transaction of $126,054.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $645,786.90. The trade was a 16.33 % 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 company insiders.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE LAD opened at $298.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.69. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.00 and a 52-week high of $405.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $352.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $341.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

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

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 7.14%.

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.