National Bank of Canada FI Grows Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 109.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 305,021 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 159,551 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in LKQ were worth $14,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in LKQ by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 777 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its position in LKQ by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 17,470 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $865,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in LKQ by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,103 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in LKQ by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,071 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Threadgill Financial LLC grew its position in LKQ by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 26,650 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ opened at $43.95 on Thursday. LKQ Co. has a 12-month low of $41.30 and a 12-month high of $59.38. The company has a market cap of $11.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average is $49.48 and its 200 day moving average is $47.81.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total value of $10,394,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 386,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,087,548.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Friday, April 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.60.

LKQ Profile

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.