Brokerages Set LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Price Target at $53.80

Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.80.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LKQ shares. StockNews.com upgraded LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LKQ

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKQ. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 3,683.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 274,577 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $11,420,000 after acquiring an additional 267,320 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 65,548 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after buying an additional 14,573 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of LKQ during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $634,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of LKQ by 2.6% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,317,672 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $54,802,000 after buying an additional 33,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 27,310.6% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 64,415 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,571,000 after buying an additional 64,180 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LKQ Price Performance

LKQ stock opened at $36.75 on Friday. LKQ has a 1 year low of $35.57 and a 1 year high of $53.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.83. The company has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 1.29.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that LKQ will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.