Investors Buy High Volume of LKQ Put Options (NASDAQ:LKQ)

LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 29,165 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 2,198% compared to the typical volume of 1,269 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded LKQ from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on LKQ from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 26th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of LKQ from $39.00 to $36.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Roth Capital cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.07.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ traded up $1.11 during trading on Monday, reaching $19.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,491,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,227,992. LKQ has a one year low of $16.85 and a one year high of $37.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.22.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 1.89% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that LKQ will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is 120.00%.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKQ. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in LKQ during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,015,096,000. Foundation Resource Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 35.4% in the third quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. now owns 817,292 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $18,659,000 after acquiring an additional 213,868 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of LKQ in the second quarter worth about $3,438,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of LKQ during the second quarter worth approximately $2,070,000. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 18.5% during the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,564,152 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $41,184,000 after purchasing an additional 244,141 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About LKQ

LKQ Corporation is a global distributor of automotive parts and accessories. The company supplies replacement parts, components and equipment to professional repair shops, collision-repair businesses, insurers, dealerships and other commercial customers. Its product offerings include recycled original-equipment parts, aftermarket parts, specialty vehicle products, tools and equipment.

LKQ’s operations include the procurement, dismantling and distribution of salvaged vehicles, allowing it to provide recycled engines, transmissions, body panels and other components.