Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) Raises Dividend to $0.53 Per Share

Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.53 per share on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Lithia Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Lithia Motors has raised its dividend by an average of 16.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years.

Lithia Motors Stock Down 0.6 %

LAD traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $246.74. 60,072 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 213,135. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $285.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $284.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 1.41. Lithia Motors has a 1 year low of $206.69 and a 1 year high of $331.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a PE ratio of 6.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.58.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $6.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.85 by ($1.74). The company had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 3.22%. Lithia Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lithia Motors will post 34.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Shauna Mcintyre sold 135 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.84, for a total value of $40,208.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,010.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Lithia Motors from $290.00 to $248.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Lithia Motors from $300.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lithia Motors from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $327.90.

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.