LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Barrington Research

Barrington Research reiterated their outperform rating on shares of LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $60.00 target price on the auto parts company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LKQ. StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of LKQ from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Roth Mkm reiterated a buy rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $58.00.

LKQ Price Performance

NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $40.01 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $10.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 1.29. LKQ has a one year low of $35.57 and a one year high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.05). LKQ had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that LKQ will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. LKQ’s payout ratio is 38.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew J. Mckay purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.75 per share, for a total transaction of $99,375.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 94,670 shares in the company, valued at $3,763,132.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other LKQ news, SVP Matthew J. Mckay purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.75 per share, for a total transaction of $99,375.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 94,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,763,132.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Andrew C. Clarke acquired 7,600 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.70 per share, with a total value of $301,720.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,519 shares in the company, valued at $417,604.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 12,600 shares of company stock worth $500,870 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKQ. Homestead Advisers Corp purchased a new position in shares of LKQ during the 4th quarter valued at $20,583,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in LKQ during the second quarter valued at about $3,839,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in LKQ by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 689,041 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,929,000 after purchasing an additional 227,314 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in LKQ during the first quarter worth about $1,468,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 91.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 582,953 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $31,136,000 after purchasing an additional 277,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Company Profile

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.