Blue Trust Inc. Has $34,000 Position in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) (2024)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 25th, 2024

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD – Free Report) by 83.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $34,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in Lithia Motors in the second quarter valued at about $339,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the second quarter valued at about $607,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lithia Motors by 13.3% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 554 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 26.6% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 57,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,233,000 after acquiring an additional 12,035 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Guggenheim raised Lithia Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $338.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Lithia Motors from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $321.50.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on LAD

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD opened at $297.90 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $265.56 and a 200-day moving average of $272.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.63. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.36 and a 1 year high of $331.96.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.09 by $0.78. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The firm had revenue of $9.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 27.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total value of $88,632.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,707.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.65, for a total transaction of $88,632.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,707.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 11,938 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.86, for a total transaction of $3,472,286.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,417,080.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

About Lithia Motors

(Free Report)

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.