Strs Ohio Cuts Stock Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Strs Ohio trimmed its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 12.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,505 shares of the company’s stock after selling 803 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $1,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LAD. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 114.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 88 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 1,383.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 89 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 106.2% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in Lithia Motors during the 1st quarter worth $55,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LAD. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $383.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.11.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

NYSE LAD opened at $297.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.28. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $262.10 and a 52 week high of $405.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $322.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $318.34.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $9.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.97. The business had revenue of $9.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.38 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 13.42%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.21 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is 6.37%.

Lithia Motors announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 26th that allows the company to buyback $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer worldwide. It operates in two segments, Vehicle Operations and Financing Operations. The company’s Vehicle Operations segment sells new and used vehicles; provides parts, repair, and maintenance services; vehicle finance; and insurance products. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.