New South Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

New South Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 1.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,511,395 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 22,516 shares during the quarter. LKQ comprises about 2.5% of New South Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. New South Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $60,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 23.3% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 83,250 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 15,745 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 679,430 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,123,000 after buying an additional 10,912 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of LKQ in the third quarter valued at about $274,000. Access Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in LKQ by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 125,665 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,017,000 after acquiring an additional 5,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meixler Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in LKQ by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,667 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LKQ shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.80.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ traded down $0.14 on Tuesday, reaching $39.22. 40,147 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,926,891. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 1.29. LKQ Co. has a fifty-two week low of $35.57 and a fifty-two week high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.01. LKQ had a return on equity of 15.15% and a net margin of 4.90%. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. LKQ’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. LKQ’s payout ratio is 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.