Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Price Target to $299.00

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) had its price objective cut by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $302.00 to $299.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 3.71% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LAD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lithia Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $225.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $337.70.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

LAD traded up $2.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $310.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 252,666. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $273.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64. Lithia Motors has a twelve month low of $231.36 and a twelve month high of $331.96.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.09 by $0.78. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 2.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lithia Motors will post 28.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Lithia Motors news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total value of $3,472,286.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at $13,417,080.94. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total transaction of $3,472,286.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at $13,417,080.94. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,021 shares of company stock worth $6,534,617. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithia Motors

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,700,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,390,000 after purchasing an additional 217,867 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 25.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,016,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,621,000 after acquiring an additional 203,543 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 413.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 65,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,450,000 after buying an additional 52,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.2% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 727,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,981,000 after buying an additional 48,938 shares in the last quarter.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

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.