Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $13.29 Million in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 37,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,294,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Lithia Motors as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versor Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Lithia Motors by 7.0% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 259,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,560,000 after purchasing an additional 37,677 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lithia Motors in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $731,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lithia Motors by 1,073.7% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 2,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithia Motors during the third quarter valued at approximately $248,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lithia Motors from $346.00 to $397.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven 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 price target of $371.36.

Lithia Motors Stock Performance

NYSE:LAD opened at $344.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $360.08 and its 200 day moving average is $340.54. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.00 and a fifty-two week high of $405.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 12.43%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 34.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithia Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Adam Chamberlain sold 403 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.28, for a total transaction of $154,864.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,049.40. This trade represents a 13.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.86, for a total transaction of $126,054.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $645,786.90. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

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.