2,494,650 Shares in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Acquired by Clarkston Capital Partners LLC

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,494,650 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,678,000. LKQ makes up about 1.8% of Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.96% of LKQ as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 618.0% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in LKQ in the 3rd quarter worth about $81,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in LKQ by 107.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LKQ shares. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

LKQ Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ opened at $41.29 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.04. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $52.06. The stock has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. On average, research analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total transaction of $416,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 359,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,975,186.92. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,864,350. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Company Profile

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.