Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.53

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of 0.53 per share on Friday, March 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th.

Lithia Motors has raised its dividend by an average of 15.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Lithia Motors has a payout ratio of 5.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Lithia Motors to earn $34.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.1%.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Lithia Motors stock traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $385.10. The company had a trading volume of 481,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,962. The company has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 1.67. Lithia Motors has a 12-month low of $243.00 and a 12-month high of $405.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $363.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $333.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 12.95%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 29.23 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $360.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $362.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 242 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $382.86, for a total transaction of $92,652.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $661,964.94. The trade was a 12.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.72, for a total transaction of $392,720.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,466.16. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,611 shares of company stock worth $7,716,702 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

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.