WINTON GROUP Ltd Purchases 16,063 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 833.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,990 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,063 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned approximately 0.07% of Lithia Motors worth $5,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 67.6% during the 1st 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 holdings in shares of 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 worth $27,349,000 after buying an additional 13,407 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,343,000 after buying an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 98.1% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAD opened at $265.80 on Tuesday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $251.00 and a 1-year high of $360.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $314.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $319.35.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $6.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.09 by ($1.35). The company had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.19 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.79 EPS. Research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 6.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Congdon Stacy Loretz sold 75 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $27,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $651,600. The trade was a 3.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LAD. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Lithia Motors from $358.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $390.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Lithia Motors from $399.00 to $366.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Lithia Motors from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $382.33.

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.