Short Interest in LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ) Grows By 18.5%

LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 12,428,708 shares, a growth of 18.5% from the February 26th total of 10,485,899 shares. Approximately 4.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,163,496 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LKQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of LKQ from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of LKQ in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LKQ in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research downgraded LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rossby Financial LCC lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 159.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 882 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the period. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in LKQ in the third quarter worth $31,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in LKQ in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in LKQ by 254.7% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 978 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 830.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ opened at $29.31 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.06. LKQ has a 12 month low of $27.64 and a 12 month high of $43.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 0.91.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The auto parts company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.06). LKQ had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. LKQ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.200 EPS. Equities analysts expect that LKQ will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. LKQ’s payout ratio is presently 50.85%.

LKQ Company Profile

LKQ Corporation is a leading provider of alternative and specialty parts to repair and accessorize automobiles and other vehicles. The company supplies a broad range of replacement components, including recycled original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts, aftermarket parts, refurbished and remanufactured items. Its products support collision repair, mechanical repair and performance enhancement needs across passenger cars, heavy trucks and recreational vehicles.

Through a combination of in-house operations and strategic acquisitions, LKQ has developed a comprehensive product portfolio that extends beyond core replacement parts.