Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 227,375 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,673 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $56,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Lithia Motors by 13.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Lithia Motors by 67.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 113,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,272,000 after purchasing an additional 45,716 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 16.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 93,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,349,000 after buying an additional 13,407 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $821,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at $651,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on LAD. Citigroup raised 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $305.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Lithia Motors from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In related news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at $513,780.84. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total transaction of $83,329.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,233.20. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 782 shares of company stock worth $229,572 over the last quarter. 1.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of LAD opened at $334.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $300.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $293.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.26. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $239.78 and a 52-week high of $360.55.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $0.57 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 8.01%.

Lithia Motors declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.