Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD Shares Sold by Bridge City Capital LLC

Bridge City Capital LLC decreased its position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,928 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,153 shares during the quarter. Lithia Motors comprises about 1.8% of Bridge City Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Bridge City Capital LLC owned 0.08% of Lithia Motors worth $6,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 111.4% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 93 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 7,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,525,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LAD. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $348.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $326.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lithia Motors has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total transaction of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $513,780.84. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total transaction of $83,329.29. Following the sale, the director directly owned 760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,233.20. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 707 shares of company stock valued at $205,947. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE LAD opened at $313.47 on Friday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12 month low of $239.78 and a 12 month high of $360.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $281.07 and a 200-day moving average of $298.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.26.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.28. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.01%.

Lithia Motors announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors 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.