Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Invests $653,000 in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 13,670 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $653,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of LKQ by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,245,966 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,497,478,000 after buying an additional 382,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in LKQ by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,330,168 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $511,447,000 after buying an additional 540,259 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in LKQ by 13.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,907,659 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $490,528,000 after buying an additional 1,195,122 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,002,807 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $430,244,000 after acquiring an additional 383,031 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,292,994 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $349,407,000 after acquiring an additional 143,632 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LKQ shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Friday, April 19th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

LKQ Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of LKQ traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,766,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,722,917. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 0.68. LKQ Co. has a 12-month low of $41.30 and a 12-month high of $59.38. The stock has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $50.59 and its 200 day moving average is $48.09.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.13). LKQ had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total transaction of $10,394,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at $20,087,548.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

About LKQ

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.