Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LAD. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $358.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $440.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on Lithia Motors from $390.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Lithia Motors from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $335.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $386.00.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD opened at $279.72 on Friday. Lithia Motors has a one year low of $262.10 and a one year high of $360.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $323.09 and its 200-day moving average is $320.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 1.20.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $6.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.09 by ($1.35). Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 2.18%.Lithia Motors’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 34.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other news, Director Congdon Stacy Loretz sold 75 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $27,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $651,600. This trade represents a 3.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithia Motors

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth about $148,540,000. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,814,000 after buying an additional 186,628 shares during the period. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,409,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,342,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 8,474.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 107,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,789,000 after acquiring an additional 106,434 shares in the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

Lithia Motors, Inc is an American automotive retailer headquartered in Medford, Oregon. Founded in 1946 as a small auto body and glass shop, the company has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest automotive retail networks in North America. Lithia operates dealerships across the United States and Canada, offering a broad portfolio of new and pre-owned vehicles from more than 40 different manufacturers.

The company’s core business activities include vehicle sales, financing, insurance, parts and service.