JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Stock Price

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $405.00 to $400.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 13.85% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on LAD. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $343.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lithia Motors presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.40.

Lithia Motors Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of LAD stock opened at $351.33 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $368.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $319.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a PEG ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.67. Lithia Motors has a twelve month low of $243.00 and a twelve month high of $405.67.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lithia Motors will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.72, for a total value of $392,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,466.16. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total value of $2,855,989.20. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 32,054 shares in the company, valued at $10,744,821.34. This trade represents a 21.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 47,290 shares of company stock worth $17,959,596. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 1.3% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 23.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Lithia Motors by 2.6% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 69.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 124 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter.

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.