LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) Price Target Raised to $49.00

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $48.00 to $49.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on LKQ. StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

LKQ Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of LKQ opened at $40.49 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.63 and a 200 day moving average of $38.76. LKQ has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $53.68. The firm has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 1.29. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. As a group, research analysts forecast that LKQ will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is 45.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $180,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 369,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,352,356.68. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 20,000 shares of company stock worth $781,500 over the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LKQ

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,977,708 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $478,150,000 after purchasing an additional 33,212 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,449,166 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $457,051,000 after purchasing an additional 134,176 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 11.0% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591,553 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $241,643,000 after purchasing an additional 48,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,020,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $240,346,000 after purchasing an additional 411,390 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

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.