Analysts Set LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Target Price at $52.60

Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) have earned an average rating of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $52.60.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LKQ. StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

LKQ Stock Up 0.9 %

LKQ opened at $41.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 1.27. LKQ has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $53.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.91.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. As a group, equities analysts expect that LKQ will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 374,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,795,180.08. This trade represents a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300 in the last three months. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 31.2% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 618.0% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of LKQ in the third quarter worth approximately $81,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 107.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.