2,712 Shares in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD Purchased by Miller Value Partners LLC

Miller Value Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $788,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 984 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 842 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 4,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 32.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In related news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total transaction of $50,430.60. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on LAD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Lithia Motors from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $490.00 price objective on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.33.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 1.0%

Lithia Motors stock opened at $372.35 on Wednesday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $239.78 and a 1-year high of $439.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $339.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $300.91.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.73 by $1.30. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 1.88%.The firm had revenue of $9.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.29%.

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.