Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.61 EPS

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $8.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.61, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.46 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 2.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.25 EPS.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

LAD stock traded down $2.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $332.91. 325,155 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 257,049. Lithia Motors has a 52-week low of $233.88 and a 52-week high of $341.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $299.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $274.82.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Lithia Motors’s payout ratio is presently 6.26%.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other news, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total transaction of $2,855,989.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 32,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,744,821.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Lithia Motors news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total value of $88,632.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,707.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Chris Holzshu sold 8,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.21, for a total value of $2,855,989.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 32,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,744,821.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,541 shares of company stock valued at $9,390,606. 1.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on LAD. StockNews.com cut Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $299.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithia Motors presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $350.80.

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.