LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Announces $0.30 Quarterly Dividend

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the auto parts company on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th.

LKQ has raised its dividend by an average of 68.7% annually over the last three years. LKQ has a payout ratio of 30.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect LKQ to earn $3.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.9%.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ traded down $1.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.47. The company had a trading volume of 2,262,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,082,402. LKQ has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $53.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $10.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.75.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a return on equity of 15.15% and a net margin of 4.90%. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that LKQ will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,795,180.08. This trade represents a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $781,500. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, LKQ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

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.