Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes $2.02 Million Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 6,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,025,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 111.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 93 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 101.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 109 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,311.1% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LAD. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $306.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $365.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group lowered shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $370.00 to $440.00 in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.33.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Lithia Motors stock opened at $385.63 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $352.07 and its 200 day moving average is $303.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.23. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $239.78 and a one year high of $439.49.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $10.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.73 by $1.30. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.16%. The business had revenue of $9.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 36 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.29%.

Lithia Motors declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Shauna McIntyre sold 165 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total transaction of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $513,780.84. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.