Short Interest in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Declines By 14.7%

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,980,000 shares, a decline of 14.7% from the December 15th total of 2,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 278,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.1 days. Currently, 7.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 15,846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.72, for a total transaction of $6,127,965.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,408,369.28. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,085,466.16. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,290 shares of company stock valued at $17,959,596 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lithia Motors

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAD. Versor Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Lithia Motors by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 259,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,560,000 after buying an additional 37,677 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Lithia Motors by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 70,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,774,000 after buying an additional 13,126 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Lithia Motors by 118.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,609,000 after buying an additional 87,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter worth $731,000.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

Shares of Lithia Motors stock opened at $351.33 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $368.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $319.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.67. Lithia Motors has a 52 week low of $243.00 and a 52 week high of $405.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.25 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Lithia Motors will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LAD. Benchmark started coverage on Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley raised Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.40.

About Lithia Motors

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.