LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $48.93, but opened at $46.16. LKQ shares last traded at $42.64, with a volume of 946,710 shares.

The auto parts company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.13). LKQ had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 6.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LKQ. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other LKQ news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total value of $10,394,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at $20,087,548.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,245,966 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,497,478,000 after acquiring an additional 382,054 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,307,753 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $540,398,000 after purchasing an additional 977,585 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,251,102 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $537,690,000 after purchasing an additional 626,010 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,907,659 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $490,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,113,931 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $486,775,000 after purchasing an additional 111,124 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LKQ Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $51.21 and its 200-day moving average is $48.36. The firm has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 1.28.

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.