Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires New Stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LAD. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in Lithia Motors by 5,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 103 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Lithia Motors by 509.5% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Lithia Motors in the second quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its position in Lithia Motors by 35.2% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Bank of America upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $298.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $334.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 135 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.84, for a total value of $40,208.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,010.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $261.20 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $288.43 and a 200 day moving average of $284.45. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12 month low of $205.97 and a 12 month high of $331.96. The firm has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a PE ratio of 7.20, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $8.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.11 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 3.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.05 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 35.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 9th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 5.51%.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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.