Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Price Target Cut to $326.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price target reduced by Citigroup from $366.00 to $326.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

LAD has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research cut shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Lithia Motors from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $335.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $376.78.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:LAD opened at $263.76 on Wednesday. Lithia Motors has a one year low of $239.78 and a one year high of $360.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $280.10 and a 200-day moving average of $306.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.22.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $6.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.09 by ($1.35). Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 2.18%.The business had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lithia Motors will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is currently 6.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Abrams Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 1.9% in the third quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,490,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $787,009,000 after buying an additional 45,856 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,346,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $447,583,000 after buying an additional 6,113 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,814,000 after buying an additional 186,628 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 5.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 612,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,873,000 after buying an additional 33,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 3.6% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 426,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,654,000 after buying an additional 14,781 shares in the last quarter.

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.