OneAscent Financial Services LLC Purchases Shares of 773 Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP grew its position in Lithia Motors by 7.0% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the 2nd quarter worth about $607,000. Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 89.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 29,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,867,000 after acquiring an additional 13,875 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 70,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,774,000 after purchasing an additional 13,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 118.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,609,000 after purchasing an additional 87,362 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on LAD shares. Morgan Stanley raised Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $375.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.80.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

LAD stock opened at $370.65 on Wednesday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.00 and a 1 year high of $388.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $323.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.25.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $8.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.24%.

Insider Activity

In other Lithia Motors news, CEO Bryan B. Deboer sold 3,313 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total transaction of $1,258,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 192,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,269,320. This trade represents a 1.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at $9,754,677.36. This trade represents a 23.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,394 shares of company stock valued at $16,688,879 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

About Lithia Motors

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.