LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Down 1.4 %

LKQ opened at $40.40 on Thursday. LKQ has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $53.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.80 and a 200-day moving average of $38.95.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that LKQ will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $184,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 374,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,795,180.08. This trade represents a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,977,708 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $478,150,000 after buying an additional 33,212 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,449,166 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $457,051,000 after buying an additional 134,176 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $309,609,000 after buying an additional 833,519 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 7.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Company 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.