Barclays Cuts Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Price Target to $390.00

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its target price trimmed by Barclays from $410.00 to $390.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

LAD has been the topic of several other reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $440.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lithia Motors from $327.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Lithia Motors from $385.00 to $399.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $390.70.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

LAD opened at $321.72 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $328.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $320.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $7.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 1.18. Lithia Motors has a 1 year low of $262.10 and a 1 year high of $405.14.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.53 by $0.97. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lithia Motors will post 34.45 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Congdon Stacy Loretz sold 75 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $27,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $651,600. This represents a 3.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithia Motors

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Lithia Motors by 13.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,487,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 67.6% in 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 boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 16.8% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 13,407 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 106.2% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 29.1% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 262 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period.

About Lithia Motors

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.