LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Acquired by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 149.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 63,365 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,928 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $2,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LKQ in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in LKQ by 94.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,010 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in LKQ by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $184,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 374,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,795,180.08. This represents a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on LKQ. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.80.

LKQ Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $38.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.45. LKQ Co. has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.01. LKQ had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 15.15%. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

About LKQ

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.