Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 889.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,336 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,523,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter worth $6,072,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $953,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Lithia Motors in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $298.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $336.90.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $260.56 on Wednesday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.97 and a 1-year high of $331.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $289.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $284.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of 7.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.58.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $8.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.11 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 3.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 35.35 EPS for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 135 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.84, for a total transaction of $40,208.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $495,010.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

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.