Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) updated its FY17 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of $8.35-8.50 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus EPS estimate of $8.30. The company issued revenue guidance of $9.6-9.9 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $9.63 billion.
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LAD. Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and issued a $116.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Jefferies Group LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Bank of America Corporation cut shares of Lithia Motors from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $92.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Seaport Global Securities initiated coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. They set a neutral rating for the company. Finally, BidaskClub upgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $109.17.
Lithia Motors, Inc. (LAD) opened at 103.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 1.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $95.68 and a 200 day moving average of $93.93. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.85 and a 52 week high of $109.42.
Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 21.66% and a net margin of 2.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post $8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 9th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.01%.
In other Lithia Motors news, Director Susan O. Cain sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.64, for a total transaction of $105,640.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,244.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total value of $490,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 79,468 shares in the company, valued at $7,787,864. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 209,296 shares of company stock valued at $20,951,694 in the last three months. Insiders own 7.85% of the company’s stock.
About Lithia Motors
Lithia Motors, Inc is an operator of automotive franchises and a retailer of new and used vehicles and related services. As of February 28, 2017, it offered 30 brands of new vehicles and all brands of used vehicles in 154 stores in the United States and online at Lithia.com, DCHauto.com and CarboneCars.com.
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