Xavier Urbain Sells 867 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Stock

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Director Xavier Urbain sold 867 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total value of $38,581.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,467. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

LKQ Price Performance

LKQ stock traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $44.32. 1,523,171 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,735,046. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.81. The firm has a market cap of $11.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.33. 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.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.13). LKQ had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is 38.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LKQ

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of LKQ by 2.4% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 56,784 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in LKQ by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 49,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,460,000 after buying an additional 1,599 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of LKQ by 3.7% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 177,720 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $8,799,000 after acquiring an additional 6,268 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in LKQ by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 85,683 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,242,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in LKQ by 4.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,619,776 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $426,765,000 after acquiring an additional 364,732 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on LKQ. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

LKQ Company Profile

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.