Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Has $574.80 Million Stock Holdings in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC decreased its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,608,133 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,770 shares during the period. Lithia Motors accounts for approximately 2.0% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned about 0.06% of Lithia Motors worth $574,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAD. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Lithia Motors by 69.9% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 1,420.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Congdon Stacy Loretz sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.80, for a total transaction of $80,676.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,444.40. This represents a 18.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.84, for a total value of $72,128.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,219.48. This represents a 16.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,246 shares of company stock worth $433,724. 0.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LAD. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $420.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.91.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

LAD stock opened at $289.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $340.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $342.75. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.00 and a 1 year high of $405.68. The stock has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 9.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.43% and a net margin of 2.21%. Equities analysts forecast that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.14%.

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.