River Road Asset Management LLC Has $224.15 Million Stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

River Road Asset Management LLC increased its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,690,401 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 114,207 shares during the period. LKQ makes up approximately 3.1% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.75% of LKQ worth $224,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LKQ. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in LKQ by 271.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,612,434 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $459,990,000 after purchasing an additional 6,296,379 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of LKQ in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $239,693,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 84.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,172,143 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $280,277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,819,542 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,749,817 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $306,509,000 after acquiring an additional 914,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,149,362 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $357,182,000 after acquiring an additional 844,188 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at LKQ

In other news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,087,548.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LKQ Stock Down 1.1 %

LKQ stock traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $47.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,110,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,527,192. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $51.16 and its 200-day moving average is $48.36. LKQ Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.49 and a fifty-two week high of $59.38.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The auto parts company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.08. LKQ had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 17.24%. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. LKQ’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LKQ shares. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.50.

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.