LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Receives $52.60 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.60.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LKQ. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

LKQ Price Performance

LKQ stock opened at $39.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 1.09. LKQ has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $46.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. LKQ’s revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that LKQ will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total value of $416,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 359,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,975,186.92. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Justin L. Jude bought 2,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $36.99 per share, with a total value of $100,168.92. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 280,777 shares in the company, valued at $10,385,941.23. This trade represents a 0.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock worth $1,873,750. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of LKQ in the fourth quarter valued at about $91,678,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in LKQ by 112.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 42,563 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 22,575 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in LKQ by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $309,609,000 after purchasing an additional 833,519 shares during the last quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of LKQ in the 4th quarter worth approximately $559,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 126,729 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,657,000 after buying an additional 11,975 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.