Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,418,725 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 407,593 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.55% of LKQ worth $56,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of LKQ by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,977,708 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $478,150,000 after purchasing an additional 33,212 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in LKQ by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,449,166 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $457,051,000 after buying an additional 134,176 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in LKQ by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,542,740 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $260,330,000 after acquiring an additional 21,161 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,020,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $240,346,000 after acquiring an additional 411,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,398,538 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $182,936,000 after acquiring an additional 253,639 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LKQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, LKQ has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.80.

LKQ Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of LKQ opened at $36.88 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $38.29 and its 200 day moving average is $40.07. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $35.57 and a 12-month high of $53.68. The company has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 1.29.

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

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. LKQ’s payout ratio is 44.78%.

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.