CreativeOne Wealth LLC Acquires 193 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,453 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 14.7% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,390,000 after purchasing an additional 217,867 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,016,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,621,000 after buying an additional 203,543 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 87,362 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 753,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,204,000 after buying an additional 85,579 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lithia Motors during the third quarter worth about $26,071,000.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,408,369.28. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.72, for a total value of $392,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,466.16. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,067 shares of company stock valued at $20,933,294 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.60.

Lithia Motors Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LAD opened at $386.90 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $340.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.82. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a one year low of $243.00 and a one year high of $405.67. 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 has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 1.63.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 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 company posted $9.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

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