Verition Fund Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 1,960.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 126,909 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,749 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC owned 0.48% of Lithia Motors worth $40,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.3% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $975,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in Lithia Motors by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 459 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 7.0% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 83.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithia Motors

In other news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total value of $6,127,965.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,408,369.28. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total value of $2,973,697.61. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,754,677.36. This represents a 23.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,067 shares of company stock worth $20,933,294 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LAD. Guggenheim increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.60.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD opened at $386.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18, a PEG ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $338.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.18. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.00 and a fifty-two week high of $405.67.

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 company had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. Lithia Motors’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.24%.

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.