Advent International L.P. Sells 56,398 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. $LAD

Advent International L.P. decreased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 37.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,273 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,398 shares during the quarter. Lithia Motors comprises about 0.6% of Advent International L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Advent International L.P. owned about 0.42% of Lithia Motors worth $23,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 3.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,389,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,074,000 after buying an additional 43,087 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in Lithia Motors by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 742,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,814,000 after acquiring an additional 186,628 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 612,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,873,000 after purchasing an additional 33,966 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 426,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,654,000 after purchasing an additional 14,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter valued at about $125,214,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard J. Bailey, Jr. sold 297 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.57, for a total value of $83,329.29. Following the sale, the director owned 760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,233.20. The trade was a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.64, for a total value of $50,430.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,681 shares in the company, valued at $513,780.84. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 782 shares of company stock worth $229,572 in the last 90 days. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LAD shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $305.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lithia Motors from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Lithia Motors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $380.33.

Lithia Motors Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $341.04 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.26. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12 month low of $239.78 and a 12 month high of $360.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $302.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $293.89.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $7.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.28. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 26th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Lithia Motors Profile

Lithia Motors, Inc is an American automotive retailer headquartered in Medford, Oregon. Founded in 1946 as a small auto body and glass shop, the company has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to become one of the largest automotive retail networks in North America. Lithia operates dealerships across the United States and Canada, offering a broad portfolio of new and pre-owned vehicles from more than 40 different manufacturers.

The company’s core business activities include vehicle sales, financing, insurance, parts and service.