Morgan Stanley Upgrades Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) to Equal Weight

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $310.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $225.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 1.63% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on LAD. Stephens began coverage on Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $338.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $334.00.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

NYSE LAD opened at $315.14 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.64. Lithia Motors has a 1 year low of $231.36 and a 1 year high of $331.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.86.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $7.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.09 by $0.78. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 2.52%. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $10.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lithia Motors will post 28.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total value of $2,973,697.61. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 10,777 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.93, for a total transaction of $2,973,697.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,754,677.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $556,707.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,021 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,617 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithia Motors

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Lithia Motors in the second quarter valued at about $143,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithia Motors by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 119,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,285,000 after acquiring an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $975,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Lithia Motors by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,688 shares in the last quarter.

About Lithia Motors

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.