JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Price Target to $360.00

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price objective decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $420.00 to $360.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.91.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE LAD opened at $289.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.69. Lithia Motors has a 52 week low of $243.00 and a 52 week high of $405.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $340.16 and a 200-day moving average of $342.75.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.43% and a net margin of 2.21%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors will post 34.45 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.86, for a total transaction of $126,054.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $645,786.90. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.84, for a total transaction of $72,128.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $377,219.48. This trade represents a 16.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,246 shares of company stock valued at $433,724 in the last quarter. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 259,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,560,000 after purchasing an additional 37,677 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter valued at about $91,190,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lithia Motors by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 208,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 497.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,314,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the third quarter valued at approximately $731,000.

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.