Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 120.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,549 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,488 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $1,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LAD. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 0.6% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 20,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,084,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. raised its position in Lithia Motors by 114.4% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 1,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 8.1% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 26.6% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 57,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,233,000 after buying an additional 12,035 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.2% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 727,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,981,000 after buying an additional 48,938 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total transaction of $2,855,989.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 32,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,744,821.34. This represents a 21.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total transaction of $3,472,286.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,417,080.94. This represents a 20.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,394 shares of company stock worth $16,688,879 in the last 90 days. 1.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 0.9 %

Lithia Motors stock opened at $372.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $317.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $284.37. The firm has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 1.63. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.00 and a twelve month high of $388.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.25 earnings per share. Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is 7.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LAD shares. Guggenheim increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $353.80.

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.