Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Price Target Lowered to $280.00 at Citigroup

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its target price decreased by Citigroup from $320.00 to $280.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LAD. Evercore ISI started coverage on Lithia Motors in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. They issued an outperform rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Lithia Motors from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Craig Hallum cut their price objective on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Lithia Motors from $290.00 to $248.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $297.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lithia Motors has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $320.82.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Lithia Motors stock opened at $262.72 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $282.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $283.65. The firm has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a PE ratio of 7.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.58. Lithia Motors has a one year low of $206.69 and a one year high of $331.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $6.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.85 by ($1.74). The business had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 33.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 5.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 135 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $495,010.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,054,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 11,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,510,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter.

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.