LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) Stock Price Down 1% – Time to Sell?

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) shares were down 1% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $37.85 and last traded at $37.97. Approximately 249,102 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 1,954,507 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LKQ has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.80.

LKQ Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.01. LKQ had a return on equity of 15.15% and a net margin of 4.90%. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. LKQ’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. LKQ’s payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LKQ

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 3,683.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 274,577 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $11,420,000 after buying an additional 267,320 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in LKQ by 28.6% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 65,548 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 14,573 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in LKQ by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,317,672 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $54,802,000 after purchasing an additional 33,459 shares during the period. Regatta Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of LKQ by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 19,132 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of LKQ during the 3rd quarter worth $1,840,000. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.