Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC Sells 7,766 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC reduced its position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 89.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 868 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,766 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Abrams Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 2.2% during the first quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,444,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,611,000 after acquiring an additional 53,490 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 10,136,710.0% during the first quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 2,027,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,112,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027,342 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,267,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,053,000 after purchasing an additional 72,980 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 376,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,508,000 after purchasing an additional 30,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advent International L.P. boosted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. Advent International L.P. now owns 286,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,183,000 after purchasing an additional 69,635 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LAD. Citigroup upped their target price on Lithia Motors from $385.00 to $399.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Barclays began coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lithia Motors from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $383.10.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $285.66 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $315.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $318.60. The firm has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.29. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $262.10 and a 52 week high of $405.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $9.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.53 by $0.97. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 13.42%. The company had revenue of $9.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.21 EPS. Lithia Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.37%.

Lithia Motors announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 26th that allows the company to repurchase $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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.