Lithia Motors, Inc. (LAD) To Go Ex-Dividend on May 9th

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.53 per share on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Lithia Motors has raised its dividend by an average of 16.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAD opened at $257.73 on Friday. Lithia Motors has a fifty-two week low of $206.69 and a fifty-two week high of $331.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $284.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.85. The company has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $6.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.85 by ($1.74). Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.87% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The business had revenue of $8.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.44 EPS. Lithia Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Lithia Motors will post 34.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LAD. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Craig Hallum cut their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $320.82.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 135 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.84, for a total transaction of $40,208.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,010.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate 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.