Twin Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 199.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,568 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 20,367 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $1,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LKQ. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 27.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 36,922 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 8,002 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 23.3% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 73,041 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,317,000 after purchasing an additional 13,792 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 6.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 35,882 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 1.2% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 44,028 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 25.0% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 12,163 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,429 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LKQ Stock Up 1.4 %

LKQ opened at $48.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 1.28. LKQ Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.49 and a fifty-two week high of $59.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $51.19 and its 200 day moving average is $48.36.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The auto parts company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.52 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 17.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is currently 34.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LKQ shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, LKQ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total transaction of $10,394,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,087,548.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.55% 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.