Haverford Trust Co Sells 87 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Haverford Trust Co decreased its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 912 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LAD. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,390,000 after buying an additional 217,867 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 25.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,016,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,621,000 after acquiring an additional 203,543 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 118.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,609,000 after purchasing an additional 87,362 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 365,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,997,000 after purchasing an additional 78,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 727,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,981,000 after purchasing an additional 48,938 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.80.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:LAD opened at $372.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 1.63. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.00 and a 1 year high of $388.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $317.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $284.37.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. Lithia Motors’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.25 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is 7.24%.

Insider Activity at Lithia Motors

In other news, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total transaction of $2,855,989.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 32,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,744,821.34. This represents a 21.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total value of $3,472,286.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,417,080.94. This represents a 20.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,394 shares of company stock valued at $16,688,879 over the last three months. 1.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lithia Motors 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.