Citigroup Increases Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Price Target to $320.00

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Citigroup from $280.00 to $320.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 0.26% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stephens started coverage on Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $266.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lithia Motors presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $338.00.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE LAD opened at $320.83 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $284.70 and its 200 day moving average is $272.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Lithia Motors has a twelve month low of $231.36 and a twelve month high of $331.96. The company has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.09 by $0.78. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 2.52%. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 28.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total transaction of $88,632.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,922 shares in the company, valued at $556,707.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,754,677.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,021 shares of company stock worth $6,534,617 in the last quarter. 1.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the second quarter worth about $143,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the second quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 2.2% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 119,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,285,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Lithia Motors by 1.3% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $975,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 23.8% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,217,000 after buying an additional 1,688 shares during the period.

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. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.